Nor’easter causes more than half a million power outages in New England

After initially hitting New York and New Jersey, a nor’easter brought hurricane-force winds to New England, causing over 500,000 power outages between Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut and New Hampshire. According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), there were almost 450,000 people without power in the state just after 6:00 p.m. EST Wednesday. The hardest hit areas are on the South Shore, Cape Cod and Cape Ann. The video above shows clips of the damage left in Massachusetts.

“This will be a multi-day power restoration effort,” MEMA tweeted Wednesday evening. “Residents who are not able to stay in their homes without power should seek other options such as staying with family or friends, hotels, or check with local officials for other shelter options.”

Various other New England utilities officials reported about 90,000 customers without power in Rhode Island, 17,000 in Maine, 15,000 in Connecticut and 6,000 in New Hampshire due to the nor’easter.

According to officials, the highest gust of the storm was recorded at 94 mph at a ferry dock on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Ferry service to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket islands was suspended Wednesday.

In Rhode Island, authorities closed the Newport Pell and Jamestown Verrazzano Bridges amid wind gusts as high as 70 mph early Wednesday. The bridges were reopened to most vehicles shortly afterward. However, school buses were not permitted to cross until Wednesday afternoon.

Dozens of other schools in New England canceled classes due to the nor’easter. In Connecticut, power lines came down on a school bus headed to Middletown High School. Six students were on the bus. None of them were hurt.

Despite the nor’easter dissipating, the severe weather is not done for the week. According to the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, severe weather is expected across the Gulf Coast into the Southeast and eventually the mid-Atlantic.

“Much of the severe weather threat will continue to progress eastward into the eastern Gulf states [Wednesday night] before overspreading the southeastern U.S. on Thursday, especially northern and central Florida and along the Southeast U.S. coast,” the prediction center said. “It appears that the interior Mid-Atlantic into the central Appalachians will be under the highest threat of heavy rain on Friday.”