High winds from a winter storm sweeping across the nation have caused tens of thousands of customers from Michigan and Ohio and across the Northeast to lose electricity on Monday.
Meanwhile, officials in the town of Otis, Massachusetts, declared a state of emergency as the system, which has been named Winter Storm Gage by The Weather Channel, downed trees and power lines.
"It’s just not safe. Trees are falling at such a random rate, you just don’t know where they’re going to fall next," Otis Police Chief Daniel Hamill told Western Mass News. "I don’t want to see someone get hurt. I want to let our residents know this storm is not to be taken lightly, this is a serious storm and residents need to be careful, vigilant of these falling trees and the ice buildup."
Blackouts hit more than 100,000 homes and businesses, according to poweroutage.us. More than 44,500 customers in Michigan were without electricity Monday afternoon.
Steady winds began blowing between 20 and 30 mph early Monday. Gusts reached 50 to 70 mph from southwest to central and northeast Ohio, including around Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland.
Downed power lines forced the closure of State Road 56 in both directions in Madison County, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. A portion of S.R. 601 was closed for about an hour because of a tree on a power line in Erie County.
Farther east, the storm brought ice and snow to parts of New York and New England.
By midmorning, towns across Massachusetts were reporting spinouts and trees and power lines down across roads.
A falling tree knocked down power lines that caused a car fire Monday morning in Auburn Hills, Michigan, WDIV reported. Wind gusts topping 60 mph pushed waves over shoreline barriers in Duluth and Grand Marais, Minnesota, causing localized flooding, The Associated Press reported.
By 11:30 a.m. Monday, the ice was bringing down trees and power lines in Connecticut.
On Sunday, the storm caused crashes and rollovers and led to road closings across much of the Plains.
Snow covered most of the roads in west, north and central Nebraska, the state patrol said. A multi-vehicle crash shut down Interstate 80 eastbound near Ashland, Nebraska, for more than an hour shortly after noon.
Earlier, a crash near Kearney, Nebraska, closed the westbound lanes of Interstate 80. A jackknifed tractor-trailer also blocked lanes on the interstate near Wood City. The city of Kearney announced a snow emergency is in effect until 10 p.m. Monday, Nebraska TV reported.
On Monday morning, the Nebraska Transportation Department announced the eastbound lanes I-80 were reopened near Wood River. By 4 p.m., the entire stretch of the interstate was reopened across Nebraska.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation issued a no travel Advisory on state and federal highways in Clay, Becker and Polk counties and northern portions of Otter Tail County. The advisory also applied to Highway 108 from Interstate 94 to Pelican Rapids and I-94 from Moorhead to Highway 108 and Highway 10 from Moorhead to Hawley.
Troopers responded to several crashes and vehicles that slid off the road throughout the night, Sgt. Jose Grabow of the Minnesota State Patrol tweeted.
Emergency personnel responded to 470 crashes, including 270 spinouts and 13 jackknifed semitrailers, across Minnesota on Saturday as the roads iced over. Forty-three accidents involved injuries and two were fatal, KMSP reported.
The Minnesota State Patrol said an 82-year-old man died about 6:30 a.m. Saturday near Lino Lakes when his vehicle slid off an icy road and rolled into a ditch, the Pioneer Press reported.
Another man died after he crashed his car into a tree in Brockway Township about 4:20 a.m. Saturday, KMSP reported.
In North Dakota, Interstates 29 and 94 reopened Monday Morning. All of I-29 and I-94 between Bismarck and Fargo were closed in both directions Sunday, and travel was discouraged across much of the rest of eastern North Dakota. The State Patrol said secondary roads were in worse shape.
Highway troopers and state snowplow operators had to rescue drivers stranded along the I-29 near Gardner, North Dakota, the Valley News reported.
The city of Fargo issued a rare no-travel advisory. "In our history, the City has rarely issued no travel advisories and only does so when conditions require," city officials said in a Facebook post.
On Monday, Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney said, “This is one the worst storms we've had, just because we had ice on the bottom of it and we received several more inches than we expected. We're telling people to be patient. Help your neighbor if you can. If you can make it a little easier for them to get around, please do that.”
Roof collapses were reported in Fargo and Virginia, Minnesota, the Associated Press reported.
On Sunday, Interstate 90 was closed in both directions in South Dakota. At 1 p.m., the Highway Patrol said conditions from Rapid City to Mitchell were not improving, and I-90 would remain closed through the night. It reopened Monday morning, as did I-29.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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