Winds close to hurricane strength swept across parts of the northeastern U.S. on Wednesday morning, toppling trees, taking down power lines and leaving tens of thousands of residents without power.
The National Weather Service reported that winds gusted as high as 72 mph (155 kph) near Boston at around 7 a.m. before leveling off through the morning. Power lines were reported down across the region, with the worst damage reported in southern New England.
In Massachusetts, more than 65,000 utility customers had lost power by 9 a.m., according to the state’s Emergency Management Agency, but within an hour the figure had dropped to about 45,000.
