BOSTON (AP) — A massive snowstorm packing hurricane-force winds has knocked out power to more than 400,000 customers in Massachusetts and has shuttered a nuclear power plant.
Late this morning NStar reported more than 248,000 customers out and National Grid about 160,000. Most are in southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod, where there was wet heavy snow and winds gusting over 75 mph.
National Grid Massachusetts president Marcy Reed said hardest hit areas of Norfolk and Plymouth counties may be offline for a few days. She said outages haven't topped recent storms such as Sandy and Irene. An NStar spokesman also said some customers are likely to be out for several days.
Both companies say it's still unsafe for crews in some areas. One of the outages was the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, which shut down after losing off-site power. Authorities say there's no threat to public safety.
Amtrak is canceling service between New York and Boston again today and Logan Airport says it will be late tonight before it can open a runway.
The MBTA has canceled train and bus service in the Boston area Saturday and a ban prohibiting drivers from being on the roads remains in effect.
The biggest snow totals so far are around Worcester, which got 28 inches. Nearly 22 inches was measured Saturday morning at Logan International Airport, which hoped to open a runway late Saturday.
Kurt Schwartz, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, says officials will assess later today whether the driving ban imposed by Governor Deval Patrick needs to stay in place.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.