The Latest: Massachusetts Gov. plans to seek federal aid

BOSTON (AP) — The Latest on the aftermath of a powerful nor’easter that hit the East Coast (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker says his state “absolutely” plans to seek federal disaster assistance in the aftermath of a powerful storm that raked the East Coast.

Baker says the nor’easter caused extensive damage along the state’s coastline. About 50,000 utility customers in the state remained without power late Monday afternoon.

The Republican governor said once the immediate crisis has passed he’ll ask local officials to begin tallying damage so the state can make a formal request for federal aid.

During a Statehouse meeting on Monday, Baker and legislative leaders also discussed possible long-term methods of fortifying the state’s coastline against powerful storms that seem to be occurring more frequently than in the past.

2:30 p.m.

Hundreds of thousands of customers remain without power days after powerful storm hit the East Coast.

The website poweroutage.us says nearly 440,000 homes and businesses from Virginia to Massachusetts were without electricity early Monday afternoon.

Of those, 123,000 were in New York and another 114,000 were in Pennsylvania and 72,000 were in New Jersey.

About 70,000 customers in southern New England also were without power, most of those in Massachusetts.

Utility National Grid said it was hoping to have power restored to its Rhode Island customers by midnight Monday and to its Massachusetts customers by midnight Tuesday.

Another storm packed with more snow is expected in the region Wednesday.

———

1:10 p.m.

The nor’easter that battered the New England coast has revealed remains of a shipwreck that has been previously exposed.

Police in York, Maine, posted <a target=”&mdash;blank” href=”https://www.facebook.com/204187054617/photos/pcb.10156167031914618/10156167026414618/?type=3&amp;theater”>photos</a> Monday that show the skeleton of a ship on Short Sands Beach that’s believed to be a sloop that’s more than 160 years old. The Maine Historic Preservation Commission believes the 51-foot-long hull dates to the era between the Revolutionary War and Civil War.

The shipwreck is normally covered by sand, but became a curiosity when it was uncovered in 1958. Since then, it has been seen several other times, most recently five years ago. Before that, it was last been seen after the Patriots Day nor’easter in 2007.

The remains have been mapped and identified by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission as an archaeological site.

———

12:30 p.m.

Even as much of the Northeast continues to clean up after last week’s nor’easter, another storm is heading for the region.

The National Weather Service says as much as a foot of snow could fall in some areas from the storm expected to hit Wednesday.

Although the upcoming storm is also a nor’easter, meteorologist Lenore Correia of the weather service’s Taunton, Massachusetts office said they are quite different beasts.

In addition to more widespread snow, winds are not expected to be as strong and there is likely to be less coastal flooding.

Correia said the current forecast is for 8 to 12 inches of snow west of Boston and into Rhode Island and Connecticut.

The weather service says the Mid-Atlantic states will likely see some precipitation starting late Tuesday and continuing through Thursday. A winter storm watch has been issued for northern New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania.

———

12:05 p.m.

Some coastal communities in Massachusetts are bringing in heavy equipment to clear sand, rocks, downed trees and other debris that were left blocking waterfront neighborhoods after last week’s storm.

Dozens of homes in Scituate were damaged by the fierce winds and high tides from the storm and, on Monday, water still filled yards and rocks blocked streets.

The city of Quincy, just south of Boston, says it is sending trash trucks through the hard-hit neighborhoods all week to pick up storm-damaged furniture, carpeting, and bedding.

The Department of Public Works is continuing to assist homeowners in pumping out flooded homes.

In Sandwich, on Cape Cod, one waterfront home was undercut by the tide and left hanging over the beach.

———

8 a.m.

Power is slowly being restored in the hardest-hit areas of the East Coast, days after a destructive nor’easter downed trees and power lines, flooded coastal towns and forced a number of school districts to cancel classes — all with another storm forecast for midweek.

Residents from Virginia to Massachusetts faced a massive cleanup Monday following the storm, which was blamed for nine deaths, including two children struck by trees. Utility crews worked around the clock to restore power to the affected areas, as nearly 300,000 are struggled without electricity. At the height of the storm, more than 2 million homes and businesses were without electricity. Three days after the storm, some residents were still unsure when they could return to their homes.

The storm pounded the Eastern Seaboard with a combination of gusting winds, rain and snow, and coastal communities were left to deal with damaging high tide flooding as powerful waves and churning surf pounded shorelines and beachfront homes.

Even as the cleanup is underway, the forecast is for another storm to churn up the coast midweek.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.