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More than 220,000 lost power as storms rolled through parts of Mass.

By Martin Finucane and Jeremy C. Fox Globe Staff,Updated August 4, 2020, 9:34 p.m.
Crews work to remove a tree which fell onto cars parked along West 4th Street in South Boston.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Tropical Storm Isaias rumbled through parts of Massachusetts on Tuesday, causing more than 220,000 power outages and toppling trees across the state, but the heavy rains passed through quickly and appeared to have caused limited damage.

The storm dropped only about a quarter-inch of rain in Greater Boston, according to the National Weather Service in Norton.

In Boston, there appeared to be only a few reports of storm damage, said Officer Kim Tavares, a Police Department spokeswoman.

Cambridge had about a dozen reports of wires down or hanging precariously, including a tree that took down power lines on Sixth Street and a tree that fell on a car on Cambridge Street, according to Jeremy Warnick, a Cambridge police spokesman.

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The weather service canceled a flash flood watch around 6 p.m. and a tornado watch shortly before 7 p.m. — both ahead of schedule, according to meteorologist Torry Gaucher.

Heavy winds from Isaias which tracked to the western part of the state, caused damage in the Attleboro area Tuesday.MARK STOCKWELL/THE SUN CHRONICLE/Associated Press

“Tropical Storm Isaias was moving fairly quickly. . . . The bulk of the rain that we did see here, which wasn’t much, moved through quickly,” Gaucher said.


At 8:40 p.m., the weather service canceled a coastal flood advisory for southern coastal areas of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The peak surge of 2 feet to 2 1/2 feet had been reached by early evening, before high tide, and minor flooding was no longer expected, the weather service said on Twitter.

A tropical storm warning and flash-flooding advisories were expected to remain in effect through Tuesday night, Gaucher said.

Around 10 p.m., 221,203 electric customers were without power, down from earlier in the evening, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. The outages were scattered around the state.

The weather service fielded dozens of reports of trees and wires down and of damage to buildings and cars in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

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A falling tree struck a person on Reservoir Avenue in Rehoboth around 4 p.m., but the person was conscious and alert, according to the Weather Service.

A tree blocked the road after heavy winds from Tropical Storm Isaias brought it down on Hobart Street in Brighton. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Much of the heavy damage occurred in Central and Western Massachusetts.

In Dudley, a two-alarm fire that started about 4:30 p.m. on Jaybee Avenue displaced two residents for the night, a Dudley firefighter said, but he could not confirm that it was caused by a falling tree because the fire was still under investigation.

“There were trees down throughout the town, and many houses had their electrical connection ripped from them,” said the firefighter, who declined to give his name.

In Leicester, a tree fell onto a pickup truck in the early afternoon, taking down electrical wires and blocking a section of Mulberry Street, the weather service said.

Lieutenant Paul Doray, a police spokesman, said the department received a report at 1:41 p.m. of a fallen tree on an unoccupied vehicle. Doray did not know the extent of the damage to the vehicle.

In Western Massachusetts, Interstate 91 northbound was impassible just south of Exit 18 in Northampton around 5 p.m. because a tree blocked all travel lanes, but all lanes were reopened within an hour, State Police said.

Trees blocked Briar Hill Road and Nash Road in Williamsburg, Berkshire Avenue in Southwick, Route 23 in Blandford, according to the weather service.















Martin Finucane can be reached at martin.finucane@globe.com. Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him @jeremycfox.

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