More than 400K without power in eastern Massachusetts

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (WWLP) - The storm that dumped two feet of snow on western Massachusetts treated the eastern part of the state more harshly. More than 400,000 customers in eastern Massachusetts are beginning their Saturday morning without power, and the state’s only nuclear power plant had to shut down.

By early morning, hurricane force winds and blizzard conditions to in eastern Massachusetts knocked out power to 403,888 customers as of 7:00 A.M. A majority of those without power are in southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod.

NStar reported nearly a quarter of a million of its customers had lost power. National Grid's power outages numbered more than 150,000.

Wet, heavy snow aggravated by winds gusting up to 75 miles an hour did the damage, and that wasn't all.

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth had to be shut down because the plant's own in-house system had also lost power due to the blizzard conditions.

About three feet of snow fell in some parts of the Boston area, and 28” of snow had already fallen in parts of central Connecticut.