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A paralyzing storm has coated much of Central and Western Massachusetts with an inch of ice, snapping countless limbs and power lines and knocking out electricity to more than 700,000 homes and businesses across New England. As the storm roars out to sea today after deluging the region with 2 to 4 inches of rain, it is leaving a wide swath of damage. Hardest hit was northern Worcester County, where 119,000 people are without power and some roads are impassable in communities such as Fitchburg and Leominster. "There's tons and tons of debris out there, which is impacting the utilities' ability to restore power," said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. "It's as bad as we've seen at least over the last 10 years."No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, and officials are still determining how much havoc the storm caused. Governor Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency, which allowed him to mobilized 500 members of the National Guard to help clear roads and provide support. Power outages in Massachusetts have hit 350,000, Patrick said, and it would be "ambitious" to think power would be restored by Monday."This is not going to be a couple of hours," Patrick said in a news conference at the state's emergency management center in Framingham. "It's likely to be several days."A state of emergency has also been declared in New Hampshire, where more than 265,000 are in the dark, according to Public Service of New Hampshire and New Hampshire Electric Co-op. Central Maine Power Co. reported that 100,000 of its 590,000 customers were without electricity. Connecticut Light & Power reported that nearly 17,000 of its 1 million customers are without service.In Worcester, there have been more than 200 reports of roads blocked by fallen trees, with the Burncoat and Greendale neighborhoods especially hard-hit.“I have never seen anything like this in 30 years,” said Deputy Chief Peter Bergstrom of the Holden Fire Department, where the entire town is without power.In Western Massachusetts, the towns of Otis, Becket, and Ashfield sustained the most damage. It could take several days to restore power because downed trees are preventing repairs, said Lacey Girard, spokeswoman for Western Massachusetts Electric Company, which has 21,000 customers without power.In addition to New Hampshire, massive electricity outages have been reported in Vermont and Maine. In Massachusetts, the problems are not limited to ice. Wind gusts near 50 miles per hour are buffeting Cape Cod and the South Coast, where temperatures are in the 60s. Flooding is a major concern inside Interstate 495 with small streams swollen from the rain."This is ending. It's on its way out," said Eleanor Vallier-Talbot, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Taunton. "The heaviest stuff is pretty well over."The rain is expected to taper off and give way to cold. High temperatures are expected to creep above freezing in the portions of the state blanketed by ice, which could help thaw some cities and towns. Temperatures are expected to plummet this evening, with lows hitting the teens in the central and western part of the state. Temperatures in Boston are expected to slip into the 20s. Material from the Associated Press is included in this report.By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff, and Anne Baker, Globe Correspondent
As in the days of Noah...
