Power outages across Massachusetts after strong winds pull down trees, utility lines
There were tens of thousands of power outages across Massachusetts Tuesday morning after an overnight storm with strong winds brought down trees and utility lines.
According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), more than 34,000 homes and businesses had no electricity just before 11 a.m. The outages peaked at nearly 65,000 at 6 a.m.
Eversource reported more than 8,000 customers without power, most of them in Marion.
National Grid had more than 25,000 customers lose electricity, many of them on the North and South Shore and in Worcester County.
Peak wind gusts hit 81 miles per hour at the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in Milton, setting a new record there for March 17, according to chief weather observer Matt Douglas. They reached 63 miles per hour in Marshfield and Hingham and hit 62 at Logan Airport, where 51 flights were canceled Tuesday.
The wind gusts pulled a large tree out of the ground on Thacher Street in Attleboro and dropped it on a house. Power was cut off to the home as a precaution.
"After heavy rain, when the ground becomes saturated, the risk of trees falling is always a concern. High winds only increase that risk. Fortunately, in this case, there were no additional hazards and no one was hurt." District Fire Chief Gerry Brogan said in a statement.
In Norwell, a falling tree brought down a power line that started to spark in a yard.
"Little chaos, first thing. We're just addressing them as they come in, obviously. We can't do too much because there's utility infrastructure involved right now. We're waiting for National Grid to come out and assess their lines and the damage and then we'll go from there. Once they free their utilities up, we'll clear the roads remove the debris, hopefully get back to normal," said Shane Gokey of the Norwell Highway Department.
If you see a power line down, do not go near it. Call 911 immediately and report it to police.
