Thousands still without power across Northeast

MONTPELIER, Vt.  — Tens of thousands of customers across the Northeast were still without power Saturday after gusty storms starting on Halloween toppled trees and power lines and flooded roads.

In one Connecticut town, officials blamed the unusually high tree damage on gypsy moths and emerald ash borers, pests that weakened trunks and branches.

Insects ate their way through the tree-lined community of Marlborough, Conn., making the trees brittle and unable to withstand Thursday’s high winds, WFSB-TV reported.

In Maine, more than 61,000 were still without service by early afternoon Saturday while New York had 57,000 without power.

The storms killed at least two people. A man in Tennessee who was injured when a tree fell on his van later died, and a Glenville, N.Y., man died after he got out of his car on a flooded road and was swept away.

The high winds also partially toppled a milk barn in the northern Vermont town of Maidstone, leaving the cows temporarily trapped inside, the Caledonian Record reported. The barn measuring 65 feet by 272 feet was a total loss, said dairy farmer Chris Fay.

None of the 208 cows were hurt, he said.