More than 800,000 New England customers are without power as a major storm continues to blast the region.
The numbers, which have been exploding since 11 p.m. Sunday, grew rapidly as the storm delivered powerful wind gusts throughout New England.
Winds with up to hurricane force were expected to move into Greater Boston early Monday morning. The National Weather Service reported wind speeds of over 60 mph on parts of Cape Cod.
The damaging winds are now shifting northeast, and there are dozens of reports of tree branches and wires down. Intense rain is continuing, and flooding is imminent in many areas. Leaf-covered roads are causing ponding in some areas, which could cause hydroplaning.
In Massachusetts, more than 260,000 customers had lost power as of 4:30 a.m., according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, making it the largest power outage in the state since Irene in 2011.
More than 142,000 Rhode Island customers were in the dark, while more than 162,000 in Connecticut had lost electricity. NBC Connecticut reported that some of the harder hit communities included Fairfield, Stonington and Ledyard.
More than 206,000 power outages were reported in New Hampshire by Eversource, Unitil and New Hampshire Electric Co-Op. At least 56,000 have lost power in Maine, according to Central Maine Power, and Green Mountain Power reported another 35,000 in Vermont.
Damage reports have been steadily coming in to the NBC Boston newsroom, including in Marion, Massachusetts, where trees that fell across a roadway also knocked down wires.
Downed trees and wires were also reported by the National Weather Service in Falmouth, Dracut, Saugus and Sandwich in Massachusetts and in Exeter and Richmond in Rhode Island. A tree also fell on a home in Hartford, Connecticut.
The National Weather Service advised New Englanders to prepare for power outages by fully charging cell phones and keeping flashlights ready. They also advised residents to avoid using candles due to fire hazards.
