Storms knock out power, down trees on East Coast

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A clash of storm fronts that began on Halloween created havoc that caused flooding, knocked over trees, downed power lines and damaged homes from the Deep South throughout the Northeast on Friday.

More than 420,000 customers from South Carolina to Maine and in Ohio were without electricity late Thursday. A falling tree struck and trapped a trick-or-treater in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City. Police told The Journal News a resident pulled the 9-year-old out and she was taken to a hospital for treatment of fractures.

In Pennsylvania, Delaware County Emergency Management Director Tim Boyce told WPVI-TV on Friday that eight homes were destroyed and dozens were damaged. The National Weather Service was considering sending a survey team to the area to determine if a tornado had touched down.

A fallen tree and down power lines block E Street Road near Middletown Road after Thursday’s storm in Thornbury Township, Pa. Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. (Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

More than 100,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in the Philadelphia suburbs early Friday. More outages occurred in western Pennsylvania, where storms caused flooding, mudslides and road closures. Trees came down in New Jersey, which had more than 25,000 homes and businesses without power.

More than 200,000 customers were without power in New York state after a night of heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 70 mph (110 kph).

Gov. Andrew Cuomo told Spectrum News on Friday that several hundred people were being evacuated in scattered areas around the state because of high waters.

Police in the central New York village of Dolgeville used a boat to rescue people from a home. The Buffalo area was dealing with flash flooding after 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 centimeters) of rain.

The weather also caused damage, outages and commuter delays across New York’s Long Island.

Electric utilities across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine were busy restoring service to tens of thousands of customers who lost power due to high winds.

In Maine, more than 120,000 customers were without power Friday morning. In Vermont more than 20,000 customers were without power and in New Hampshire it was about 16,000.

A flood warning remained in effect for much of northern Vermont through mid-day due to flooding that has closed some roads.

Many schools across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine delayed or canceled classes on Friday.

Trees were toppled on Thursday in the western Carolinas and Tennessee, where news outlets reported at least five people were injured when trees hit vehicles. Tornado watches during the day stretched from South Carolina to northern Pennsylvania.

By SHAWN MARSH, The Associated Press