MA Power Outages: 'Multi-Day Effort' To Restore Electricity

The number of customers without power across Massachusetts has fallen to below 125,000, but National Grid is saying that restoring power "could be a multi-day effort," and towns were told it could take up to 72 hours to get the lights back on. That means some people across the Bay State might be celebrating Halloween — and going for days beyond it — with no power.

122,000 people were without power as of 9 a.m. Tuesday. Eversource also warned, "our restoration effort will extend beyond today."

Local police, fire and utility departments have been working since late Sunday night in response to hundreds of reports of flooded roads, fallen trees, downed power lines and other storm-related damage. National Grid representatives said crews are working to repair transmission lines to restore power to as many people as possible, but the extensive damage means repairs are likely just getting started.

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Dozens of schools were closed or delayed and the morning commute was a mess as communities scrambled to deal with the fallout of a storm that packed a harder punch than some, including National Grid, thought possible.

"Last night's storm brought lashing rain and higher-than-expected hurricane-force winds to MA and RI, farther inland than initially expected," a representative of the power company said in a statement late Monday morning.

At one point Monday there were more than 310,000 customers without power. By late afternoon, there were still tens of thousands "in the dark" in Essex County — . 99 percent of customers in the towns of Boxford and Salisbury. About 80 percent of customers in nearby towns like North Andover and Topsfield, as well as towns south of Boston like Plympton and Carver, were also without power.

Dracut, where more than 10,000 customers were without power, is one of several towns that have postponed trick-or-treating to Friday night because of the storm.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency suggested those without power plan for a potential stay with friends or at a hotel. "Significant power restoration" won't be completed until at least tomorrow, MEMA tweeted.

In Brookline, Helene Dunlap said her power went out after she heard a loud "kaboom" around 1:30 a.m. Monday. She went outside hours later to find a large tree had fallen on a neighboring home.

"It really shook the whole place up," she said. "It was such a dark, stormy night that looking out the window we really couldn't determine what was going on."

Methuen was one of the hardest hit towns with more than 80 roads closed at one point, police said.

One tree crashed into Philip Cole's bedroom, where he would have been if he hadn't been called into work Sunday night.

"Crazy. Absolutely crazy," Cole told WBZ-TV. "I mean, it was weird how it sheared off, right at my bedroom. You opened the door to my bedroom and there's no bedroom. There's no floor, there's no anything really, just a closet and that was it."

Is there storm damage near you? If it is safe to do so, snap a photo or video and email it to mike.carraggi@patch.com.

An 82 mile-per-hour wind gust was recorded in Mashpee, the National Weather Service reported. That was the storm's strongest recorded gust in Massachusetts.

Watch Now: 310,000+ Without Electricity Across Massachusetts

A 130 mph wind gust was recorded on New Hampshire's Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England. According to the Associated Press, it's the site of what was once the world record for fastest wind gust, 231 mph, an occurrence that was recorded in 1934.

The overnight storm tore through the region, leaving nearly 1.5 million customers across New England without power and forcing hundreds of business and school closings. Almost half a million people in Maine were without power, prompting Gov. Paul LePage to issue a state of emergency.

Police departments across Massachusetts spent the morning posting on social media to warn residents about flooded roads, fallen trees and downed wires. Many Patch readers sent in photos — like the one above — of trees crashing onto streets and cars and into backyards.

Stay with Patch through the storm as we update this story. Subscribe for free to your local Patch for more information and real-time alerts.

Photo by Nicole Guilmartin in Andover

Reporting from The Associated Press was used in this report