By JEFF TIRRELL
(GREENFIELD) — A powerful rain and windstorm swept up the eastern seaboard late yesterday and early today, slamming the area with torrential rains and strong winds. One particularly strong line of storms came up through the Connecticut River Valley at around 8:00 last night, and another severe storm hit at about 6:00 this morning.
The area has been under a moderate drought for over a month now, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Rains from these storms will help the rain deficit, but the winds that accompanied the storms resulted in several power outages. The towns of Athol and Orange had 1,700 customers without power, while Montague reported 800 customers without power. The southern New Hampshire town of Winchester was particularly hard-hit, with 1,200 customers having lost power. Other towns also reported scattered outages.
The storm was winding down as of 8:00 this morning, with conditions expected to quickly improve throughout the day.
