Thousands still without power after weekend storms as more rain moves in
Most outages are in the Andover, North Andover area; National Grid says power should be restored today.
Thousands of people in Massachusetts — most in Andover and North Andover — remained without power Sunday morning after a weekend of thunderstorms, while towns continued clearing storm debris from roadways.
As of 2 p.m., more than 13,900 utility customers were still without power, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency online outage map.
More than 6,700 Andover residents and 3,100 North Andover residents were in the dark, making up the bulk of the outages.
“Although thunderstorms and wind gusts are expected today, service should be restored for most of our remaining customers today,” National Grid said in a statement Sunday.
And more showers and thunderstorms are on tap Sunday — including in the late afternoon when the Patriots open the football season in a game against the Eagles at Gillette Stadium and honor legendary quarterback Tom Brady.
Alan Dunham, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Boston office, said scattered showers were likely to hit Sunday afternoon and into the evening, “but there could be some heavier downpours with thunderstorms.” Dunham said rainfall is expected to increase throughout the afternoon.
In a phone interview shortly after noon, Dunham said rain had started to fall over Boston and down into northern Rhode Island, but it was too early to say whether the weather would impact the Patriots’ season-opening game, which will include a ceremony honoring legendary quarterback Tom Brady.
Amid the swirling fog and showers, Logan International Airport reported 158 cancellations and 258 delays as of 2 p.m., according to aviation monitoring site Flight Aware.
National Grid crews worked through the night fixing damage and restoring power to customers in communities including Andover, North Andover, Lawrence, and Chelmsford, the company said in a Facebook post.
The town of Andover is using a local senior center to serve as a cooling center and a place for residents to recharge their electronic devices.
On Saturday evening, National Grid repaired the electrical substations in Andover, although overhead power lines were still significantly damaged, the town said. Public works crews have cleared the town’s major roadways of downed trees not impacted by live wires, and began removing storm debris from neighborhood roads on Saturday night.
The city of Lawrence gave out food and water at the intersection of Jefferson and Easton streets for residents affected by storm damage, according to the Lawrence Department of Public Works.
Globe correspondent Daniel Kool contributed to this report.
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