MILTON, MASS. (WHDH) - More than 30,000 people are without power after strong wind gusts and soaking rain battered parts of Massachusetts on Wednesday morning, uprooting trees, snapping branches, and downing power lines.
RELATED: Track rain, downpours on interactive radar
As of 12:45 p.m., 33,577 residents in communities across the state were in the dark, according to MEMA’s outage map.
Gusts throughout the morning routinely reached more than 60 mph in parts of eastern and central Massachusetts before they began to level off shortly before 10 a.m. Many other areas saw gusts between 35-45 mph.
The National Weather Service reported that winds gusted as high as 72 mph near Boston.
Check out the peak wind gusts from overnight! Wow!
Still gusty out there now but a sharp drop off with wind gusts back through western Mass. We see winds subside this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/PZ6wohL2dS
— Josh Wurster (@joshwurster_) September 30, 2020
The toppled trees and downed power lines snarled traffic in many communities.
In Milton, a massive tree was blown down on Plymouth Avenue, narrowly missing a home and a car.
A tree limb crashed down on power lines on River Street in Dedham, knocking out power to hundreds of homes.
At one point during the morning commute, a large tree fell and blocked the exit ramp from Storrow Drive to Massachusetts General Hospital, state police said.
In Hanover, a gigantic tree was uprooted on Dwelley Avenue, making the area impassable.
Large tree down across the road on Dwelley Ave. Avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/tZuoUgiGR3
— Hanover Fire Department (@HanoverFire) September 30, 2020
Part of the VFW Parkway in West Roxbury was also closed after a large tree snapped and fell across the road near Home Depot.
Multiple utility poles crashed to the ground in Canton, sparking a small fire on Pleasant Street near Sherman Street.
Plympton fire officials said a tree landed a car with adults and children inside. No injuries were reported.
Plympton firefighters are responding to multiple calls for trees and wires down and on fire. One incident involved a tree that landed on a vehicle with adults and children in the vehicle. There were no injuries. pic.twitter.com/zDKFo1azI4
— Plympton Fire (@PlymptonFire) September 30, 2020
The power outages also led to connectivity issues for students who are learning remotely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Brockton Public Schools announced that all absences due to outages would be excused.
In Kingston, officials canceled remote learning for students at Silver Lake Regional High School and Silver Lake Regional Middle School.
School officials urged students to log on for learning when power is restored.
For more on the forecast, visit the 7Weather page.
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