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The Latest: Crews make progress reducing power outages

Paul Francis, a lineman for INTREN electric company from Chicago, repairs the power line that was knocked down by a fallen tree on Valley Road in Media, Pa., Thursday, March 8, 2018. Pennsylvania utility companies say more than 110,000 customers are without power following the state's second major snowstorm in less than a week. (Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Original Publication Date March 09, 2018 - 9:46 AM

BOSTON - The Latest on the aftermath and cleanup following the second storm to hit the Northeast in less than a week: (all times local):

10 p.m.

Utility crews have reduced the number of customers in the Northeast who lost power after Wednesday's nor'easter to just over 200,000.

On Friday afternoon, an additional 100,000 people were without electricity.

New Jersey utility PSE&G says in a statement Friday night that it has workers from as far away as Indiana helping local crews repair damaged lines and reset utility poles. Nearly 600 additional tree trimmers also are clearing branches and debris.

PSE&G is expecting most customers to be restored by Saturday.

Friday night, there were 83,682 customers in Massachusetts without power; 81,999 in New Jersey; 30,503 in Connecticut; 15,341 in New York; 7,727 in Pennsylvania; and 4,594 in New Hampshire.

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5 p.m.

Utility crews are still working to restore electricity to more than 300,000 customers in the Northeast who lost power after Wednesday's nor'easter.

The utility National Grid tried to assure Massachusetts customers Friday there were hundreds of crews working on restorations and power would be restored to the hardest hit areas, including the Merrimack Valley, by midnight Sunday.

Haverhill, Massachusetts, Mayor Jim Fiorentini posted his frustrations with the continued outages on Facebook, saying he told National Grid to bring in more crews. He says "it is completely unacceptable that our citizens have to bear another night without heat or power."

By Friday afternoon, there were about 120,278 customers in Massachusetts without power; 100,594 in New Jersey; 46,392 in Connecticut; 29,273 in New York; 15,182 in Pennsylvania; and 9,200 in New Hampshire.

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12:40 p.m.

Police in York, Maine, are adding patrols at a local beach to protect an historic shipwreck skeleton.

The Portsmouth Herald reports York police received complaints about people vandalizing the fishing vessel skeleton at Short Sands Beach. Officials believe the shipwreck, which was exposed following a storm last week, is more than 160 years old.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Todd Frederick says he received word that people were ripping off pieces of the ship's ribbing. York police placed yellow police tape around the wreck and added patrols to the area.

The Maine Historic Preservation Commission believes the 51-foot-long hull dates to the era between the Revolutionary War and Civil War. Town Manager Steve Burns says the skeleton is town property and should be left alone because it's a historic artifact.

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Information from: Portsmouth Herald, http://www.seacoastonline.com

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8:25 a.m.

The arduous recovery from the latest storm to pummel the Northeast will likely stretch through the weekend as utility crews work to clear downed trees and power lines and restore electricity to hundreds of thousands of customers — with a possible third nor'easter in the offing.

More than 280,000 residents and businesses are still without power throughout the Northeast, two days after the second storm in less than a week pounded the Eastern Seaboard, leaving behind more than 20 inches of snow in some areas. The heavy, wet snow from the storm pulled down trees, branches and power lines, leaving millions in the dark. In Maine, excessive speed on icy roads is being blamed for a 14-vehicle pileup on Interstate 95; no injuries have been reported.

The rush is on to restore power as forecasters monitor another system that could move up the coast Monday. Some weather models, however, have the storm missing the mark.

News from © The Associated Press, 2018
The Associated Press

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