Cleanup begins as spring nor'easter moves on. But hundreds of thousands still lack power

GILFORD, N.H. (AP) — Snow showers lingered Friday as the cleanup began following a major spring storm that brought heavy snow, rain and high winds to the Northeast, left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power, and contributed to at least two deaths.

Well over a foot (30 centimeters) of snow was reported in many parts of northern New England by Thursday evening. Some areas got closer to 2 feet (61 centimeters).

“We don’t have any internet so we’re kind of closed off from the world,” said Betty Tidd, 78, of Gilford, New Hampshire. She and her husband lost power early Thursday, but they've been staying comfortable, thanks to their backup battery system and propane stove.

Tidd said they've been keeping busy by bird watching, reading, and playing games, but she hasn't been able to send out the daily poem she's been sharing with family and friends as part of National Poetry Month.

Stowe, Vermont, reported 20 inches (50.8 centimeters) of snow, the National Weather Service office in Burlington reported. The agency's office in Gray, Maine, said it had 17.4 inches (44.2 centimeters). The Concord Municipal Airport in New Hampshire was on the lower end, at 7.4 inches (18.7 centimeters).

“It's heavy, it's heavy,” Jay Carr, 49, a photographer, in Marshfield, Vermont, said the shoveling. “I try to shift from left to right so I don't damage one side worse than the other.”

Low pressure meandering through the Gulf of Maine will mean continued snow showers over northern New York, New England, and the spine of the Appalachians in West Virginia from Friday into Saturday, the weather service said.

A landslide following thunderstorms at the Wheeling Mt. Zion cemetery in West Virginia toppled trees and gravestones. Volunteers who care for the cemetery said the caskets were not damaged.

Avalanches are possible in parts of the Green Mountains in Vermont and the Adirondacks in New York, the weather service said.

“Outdoor enthusiasts heading into the back country on Friday to snowshoe or ski, need to be aware of the avalanche danger, the risks involved and take the appropriate precautions,” the service said in a statement.

That point was repeated at a Concord, New Hampshire, news conference on preparations for the solar eclipse on Monday. A group of towns in the northern part of the state will be in the perfect position to see a total eclipse, and they're anticipating many visitors.

They were digging out from the storm, including Colebrook, which is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Canada border.

“We did have about a foot of snow dumped out there over the last day and a half,” Town Manager Tim Stevens said at the news conference. “But even with that, we're still not canceling the eclipse,” he added, to a round of laughter.

In West Virginia, flooding was expected to continue along the Ohio River into the weekend. The weather service warned motorists to be careful, since backwater flooding can occur even miles from the Ohio.

In New England, utility crews worked overnight to restore power and assess damage, including downed poles and wires and blocked roads. Nearly 700,000 customers, most of them in Maine and New Hampshire, were without electricity at one point.

By late Friday morning, Central Maine Power said it had restored power to more than 120,000 customers. It had called total restoration a multi-day effort.

Some customers were affected for the second time in less than a week after losing power during an ice storm last weekend.

The weather service said it was the biggest April nor’easter — a type of storm with winds blowing from the northeast that either exits or moves north along the East Coast — to hit the region since 2020.

A tree fell on a vehicle Wednesday and killed a woman in Armonk in New York’s Westchester County, police said. In Derry, New Hampshire, officials said a woman died and another was hospitalized after a house fire Thursday sparked by an explosion. A tree had fallen on the house near propane tanks.

Despite the dangers, some hardy New Englanders took the weather in stride.

“It’s special to get snow in April and to be able to get out and enjoy it,” said Jane Phillips, cross-country skiing in her neighborhood in Portland, Maine. “It’s fun being a Mainer.”

Rathke reported from Marshfield, Vermont. Also contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Patrick Whittle and Holly Ramer in Boston; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Betty Tidd, 78, clears snow Friday, April 5, 2024, in Gilford, N.H. Tidd lost power early Thursday but she and her husband have been staying comfortable thanks to their backup battery system and propane stove. (AP Photo/Nick Perry)

A cutout of President Biden is surrounded by snow next to the driveway of a home, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Derry, N.H. Many New Englanders are cleaning up following a major spring storm on Thursday that brought heavy snow, rain and high winds to the Northeast. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Maine and New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Betty Tidd, 78, clears snow Friday, April 5, 2024, in Gilford, N.H. Tidd lost power early Thursday but she and her husband have been staying comfortable thanks to their backup battery system and propane stove. (AP Photo/Nick Perry)

The remains of a residential home, which exploded after a tree fell on propane tanks during a severe storm, is surrounded by caution tape, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Derry, N.H. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Maine and New Hampshire following Thursday's storm. One woman died in the home explosion. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A sanitation worker collects trash at the last customer before a downed tree blocking the road, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Derry, N.H. Many New Englanders are cleaning up following a major spring storm on Thursday that brought heavy snow, rain and high winds to the Northeast. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Maine and New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A utility worker strings a line, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Derry, N.H. Many New Englanders are cleaning up following a major spring storm on Thursday that brought heavy snow, rain and high winds to the Northeast. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Maine and New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A utility worker examines a large tree that fell on electric lines and landed blocking a road, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Derry, N.H. Many New Englanders are cleaning up following a major spring storm on Thursday that brought heavy snow, rain and high winds to the Northeast. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Maine and New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A electric utility worker strings a line, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Derry, N.H. Many New Englanders are cleaning up following a major spring storm on Thursday that brought heavy snow, rain and high winds to the Northeast. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Maine and New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A car heads away from a large tree that fell on electric lines and landed blocking a road, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Derry, N.H. Many New Englanders are cleaning up following a major spring storm on Thursday that brought heavy snow, rain and high winds to the Northeast. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Maine and New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A tree is uprooted and leans against a home, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Kennebunk, Maine, following a spring snowstorm. (Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via AP)

Emma Pidden waits for her bus on Congress Street in Portland, Maine, Thursday, April 4, 2024, following a spring snowstorm. Pidden said she decided to take the bus into her office because she was worried about losing WiFi at home. (Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald via AP)

A snowman stands on Beaver Meadow Golf Course in Concord, N.H., Thursday, April 4, 2024. An early spring nor'easter hammered the Northeast with heavy snow, rain and high winds, with some northern areas expected to get up to two feet of snow. (AP Photo/Kathy McCormack)

Wires from a fallen utility pole block a snow-covered road, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Bow, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer)

Lisa Silverman walks her dog Riley after an early-spring Nor'easter on Thursday, April 4, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/David Sharp)

Phil Cloutier removes heavy, wet snow after an early-spring Nor'easter, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/David Sharp)

Announcements broadcasted on the University of California, Los Angeles campus Wednesday evening told demonstrators to disperse or they would be arrested and face a misdemeanor charge. The protesters largely stayed in place, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. Police stood by strapping on riot gear.

UCLA posted on the social platform X that campus operations will be limited Thursday and Friday with all classes required to pivot to remote instruction. The post urged people to continue avoiding campus and the Royce Quad area.

Currently:

— Dueling protesters clash at UCLA hours after police clear pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia

— Student protesters reach a deal with Northwestern University that sparks criticism from all sides

— How Columbia University became the driving force behind protests over the war in Gaza

— Trump’s comparison of student protests to Jan. 6 is part of effort to downplay Capitol attack

Here's the latest:

Muslim organizations and students blasted UCLA officials and police in a Wednesday news conference, saying they failed to intervene as students in pro-Palestinian encampment on the Los Angeles campus were verbally harassed, pepper sprayed and beaten during a brawl with counter-protesters earlier in the day.

“The community needs to feel the police are protecting them, not enabling others to harm them,” said Rebecca Husaini, chief of staff for the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

Speakers disputed the university’s account that 15 people were injured and one hospitalized, saying the number of people taken to the hospital was higher. One student described needing to go to the hospital after being hit in the head by an object wielded by counter-protesters.

Several students who spoke said they had to rely on each other, not the police, for support as they were attacked, and that many in the pro-Palestinian encampment remained peaceful and did not engage with counter-protesters.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement Wednesday that “a group of instigators” came on campus to “forcefully attack” the pro-Palestinian encampment, prompting the school to ask for assistance from outside law enforcement agencies.

“However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable,” Block said. “It has shaken our campus to its core.”

Block promised the university will conduct a thorough investigation.

The Provost at Columbia University in New York says all final exams and any remaining class sessions should be held remotely for students at its Morningside Heights campus. Any papers, projects or presentations due this week also are being delayed until next week.

The university has been paralyzed by demonstrations, and police have cleared out a building that had been occupied by anti-war protesters.

The university is strongly encouraging students to leave campus and go home early for the semester.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations denounced ”the murderous cries of the pro-Palestinian mobs” on university campuses across the United States that were calling for the annihilation of Jews and Israelis.

Gilad Erdan said Wednesday that “anti-Semites failed to annihilate us during the Holocaust” and wars that followed and Hamas tried again in its Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel, but they won’t succeed.

He said the protesters represent the Palestinian goal of a single Palestinian state “achieved through repeated Oct. 7ths against Israel and also against Jews.”

Erdan accused most of the 193 U.N. member nations of “collaborating with them and encouraging their racism and antisemitism,” and he blamed the United Nations for spreading “anti-Israel vitriol.”

He called for swift action against faculty backing “this mayhem,” the arrest and expulsion of students “who call for the murder of their peers or use violence,” and for university presidents and professors “to be held accountable for permitting this.”

Erdan spoke at a U.N. General Assembly meeting where the United States was defending its veto last week of a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have paved the way for Palestine’s full membership. The resolution was approved by 12 of the 15 council members with Britain and Switzerland abstaining.

A Texas journalist who was arrested during a protest on the University of Texas campus was booked and released Wednesday on misdemeanor charges of assault and interference with public duties.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has accused Carlos Sanchez, a photojournalist with Austin television station KTBC, of hitting a state trooper with a camera while covering the April 24 protest. Video on social media showed troopers pulling Sanchez to the ground after he followed a mass of protesters and police. Sanchez had originally faced a felony charge of assaulting a public servant, then was rebooked on misdemeanor charges.

“Let’s call this what it is— blatant retaliation and intimidation,” said Society of Professional Journalists president Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins in a social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Gerry Morris, Sanchez’s attorney, said in a statement Wednesday that he looked forward to someone taking a unbiased look at the evidence and exonerating Sanchez. DPS officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Wednesday that about 170 of the 280 arrested at Columbia University and nearby City College the night before have received summonses.

The remaining 100 or so cases will be making their way through the court system, with the earliest arraignments later Wednesday afternoon and into the evening.

He said he didn’t yet have a sense how many of those arrested were students and how many weren’t affiliated with the colleges.

Interim university President Jeff Ettinger said he had “constructive dialogue” Wednesday with student leaders of an ongoing protest.

The protesters are demanding that the University of Minnesota divest from companies that do business in Israel and put out a statement that supports Palestinian students. Ettinger said the planned half-hour meeting stretched for 90 minutes.

University officials have allowed a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” that includes dozens of tents and hundreds of people to remain in the heart of the Minneapolis campus. That’s despite earlier orders by police to disperse.

Georgia Republicans on Wednesday reiterated their support for a forceful police response to campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

Gov. Brian Kemp, before he signed laws related to policing, praised officers for “standing strong and maintaining order in the face of protests and disturbances on our college campuses.”

State troopers have aided local and campus police in breaking up encampments and arresting protesters at Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Georgia in Athens. Emory’s president has since apologized for calling outside officers after police used pepper spray balls, aggressively tackled protesters and used an electrical stun gun to shock at least one protester.

The governor said he supported suspending and expelling student protesters who break laws. “We are not going to allow Georgia to become the next Columbia University,” he said.

Protesters arrested at the University of Georgia were issued interim suspensions and barred from campus without being given a chance to appeal.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said anyone who engaged in illegal behavior on the UCLA campus should be held accountable, “including through criminal prosecution, suspension or expulsion.”

“The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus,” said the Democratic governor.

His spokesman Izzy Gardon said the California Highway Patrol was deployed to the Los Angeles campus after “unacceptable” delays and limited response from campus police to clashes between dueling groups of protesters.

No one was arrested, and it’s not clear if all the demonstrators were students. The California Highway Patrol has not responded to further questions.

More than 100 people, most identifying themselves as Columbia University faculty and staff, marched and chanted near the school’s New York campus Wednesday.

They marched on the eastern side of the campus by Hamilton Hall, where, hours earlier, New York police burst in to break up a demonstration by protesters who had occupied the building.

Many marchers held signs reading “No cops on campus,” and chanted slogans aimed at Columbia University president Nemat Shafik, including “How many kids did you arrest today?”

Campus police spokesperson Marc Lovicott said four officers were injured Wednesday as police tried to remove protesters’ tents from a central square at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Lovicott said a state trooper was hit in the head with a skateboard and three sheriff’s deputies suffered injuries “directly related to the physical resistance from protesters.” At least 34 people were arrested.

Most of those arrested Wednesday were released “with no citation issued," Lovicott said.

The protesters’ tents and belongings were loaded into a truck and hauled away, but the protesters later erected several new tents on the mall.

The university said camping is prohibited under campus policy and state law.

Columbia University’s president released a statement Wednesday morning to members of the college community outlining why she called in police the night before.

Nemat Shafik said protesters taking over an administration building on campus early Tuesday was a “drastic escalation” of the encampment at the college, which “pushed the University to the brink, creating a disruptive environment for everyone and raising safety risks to an intolerable level.”

Shafik, who goes by Minouche, acknowledged the school has a “long and proud” history of activism on campus, but argued those occupying the building committed “acts of destruction, not political speech.”

“I know I speak for many members of our community in saying that this turn of events has filled me with deep sadness. I am sorry we reached this point,” she wrote.

Police at two campuses in Arizona have cleared out encampments and arrested pro-Palestinian protesters.

Several people were arrested by police in riot gear early Wednesday at the University of Arizona in Tucson after President Robert Robbins directed school officials to “immediately enforce campus use policies.”

And about 20 people were arrested at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff on Tuesday night on trespassing charges. Police dismantled a small fence made of chicken wire as well as nearly two dozen tents.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in an appearance on “CBS Mornings” Wednesday that police had identified organizations and individuals who weren’t university students, but professional agitators.

“Once I became aware of the outside agitators who were part of this operation, as Columbia mentioned in their letter and their request with the New York City Police Department, it was clear we had to take appropriate actions when our intelligence division identified those who were professionals, well trained,” Adams said.

Adams and the NYPD made similar claims before the arrests that the protest had been co-opted by outside agitators, though did not provide specific evidence to back up that contention. While people involved in the Columbia demonstrations acknowledge that some people not part of the college community have participated, they forcefully dispute the idea that outsiders were driving or unduly influencing the protests.

Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at UCLA, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another.

Hours earlier, police carrying riot shields burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring others.

After a couple of hours of scuffles between pro-Palestinian and counter-demonstrators, police wearing helmets and face shields formed lines and slowly separated the groups. That appeared to quell the violence.

Police have swept through campuses across the U.S. over the last two weeks in response to protests calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza. There have been confrontations and more than 1,000 arrests. In rarer instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue their encampment at Library Mall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Samantha Madar/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators form a wall around a group praying at their encampment at Library Mall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Samantha Madar/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Jessica Boswell holds a sign as over 40 people gather at Harry Bridges Plaza to protest the Israel-Hamas war in San Francisco on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. The General Strike on May Day was organized by the United Front For A General Strike which demanded that the United States stop the finance of genocide, occupation and war against Palestinians. (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tents are placed on an encampment on the UCLA campus, the morning after clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Demonstrators walk in an encampment on the UCLA campus, the morning after clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA late Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A firefighter retrieves a Palestinian flag from a gate to the City University of New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Madison Police carry a demonstrator protesting the war in Gaza as they work to remove a non-sanctioned encampment on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Police officers and a security guard stand outside Columbia University's Hamilton Hall, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Fireworks erupt as demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA late Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A person looks out as demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Officers with the New York Police Department arrest pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Officers with the New York Police Department arrest Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Officers with the New York Police Department raid the encampment by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Officers with the New York Police Department raid the encampment by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Pro-Palestianian protesters gather near a main gate at Columbia University in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, just before New York City police officers cleared the area after a building was taken over by protesters earlier in the day. The building and a tent encampment were cleared during the operation. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)