Tens of thousands still without power following powerful nor'easter in New England

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Power restoration efforts in Maine and New Hampshire entered another day on Saturday with more than 100,000 homes and businesses still in the dark several days after a storm brought powerful winds and heavy, wet snow.

Maine's largest electric utility warned that some customers might not have service restored until Monday or Tuesday, despite the efforts of 1,125 line crews and 400 tree-cutting crews, officials said. The bulk of the power outages — more than 150,000 at the start of Saturday — were in southern Maine, while New Hampshire had more than 10,000 homes and businesses without electricity.

Central Maine Power reported that it had more than 5,000 damage reports that workers needed to resolve during the storm, and more than 300 utility poles were broken, said Jonathan Breed, a company spokesperson.

It has been a rough year winter and spring in Maine, the nation's most heavily forested state. About 450,000 homes and businesses lost power during a December storm, and about 200,000 lost power during an ice storm last month. More than 300,000 homes and businesses were in the dark during the latest storm, a nor'easter that struck Wednesday night and Thursday.

Such storms have been growing in intensity and frequency over the past decade, Breed said.

“We are confronted with these stronger, more frequent storms across the board. That’s something we attribute to a changing climate,” he said Saturday. “It certainly explains the trend.”

The storm brought heavy rains and high winds to much of the Northeast — including gusts of up to more than 60 mph (97 kph) in parts of New England — on the heels of storms that brought tornadoes, flooding and more to states further west.

More than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow was reported in many parts of northern New England. All told, nearly 700,000 customers in New England were without electricity at one point following the biggest April nor’easter to hit the region since 2020, officials said.

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

A portion of Route 9 between Falmouth and Cumberland is closed as crews work to remove a downed tree spanning the snow-covered roadway in Falmouth, Maine, Thursday, April 4, 2024, following a spring snowstorm. (Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via AP)

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)

HOUSTON (AP) — Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to nearly 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area.

Officials urged residents to keep off roads, as many were impassable and traffic lights were expected to be out for much of the night.

“Stay at home tonight, do not go to work tomorrow, unless you’re an essential worker. Stay home, take care of your children,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in an evening briefing. “Our first responders will be working around the clock.”

The mayor said four people died. At least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees, and another happened when a crane blew over in strong winds, officials said.

Streets were flooded, and trees and power lines were down across the region. Whitmire said wind speeds reached 100 mph (160 kph), “with some twisters.”

Hundreds of windows were shattered at downtown hotels and office buildings, with glass littering the streets below, and the state was sending Department of Public Safety officers to secure the area.

“Downtown is a mess,” Whitmite said.

There was a backlog of 911 calls that first responders were working through, he added.

The storm system moved through swiftly, but flood watches and warnings remained for Houston and areas to the east.

Flights were briefly grounded at Houston's two major airports. Sustained winds topping 60 mph (96 kph) were recorded at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

More than 870,000 customers were without electricity in and around Harris County, which contains Houston, according to poweroutage.us. The county is home to more than 4.7 million people.

The damage extended to the city's suburbs, with emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County describing the damage to transmission lines as “catastrophic” and warning that power could be impacted for several days.

The Houston Independent School District canceled classes Friday for all its 274 campuses.

Heavy storms slammed the region during the first week of May, leading to numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.

Transmission power lines are down near the Grand Parkway and West Road after a storm Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Cypress, Texas. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Transmission power lines are down near the Grand Parkway and West Road after a storm Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Cypress, Texas. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)