Thursday, 4:30 PM
Winds begin to subside, but stay strong for start of marathon
By Andrew Ryan and John Ellment, Globe Staff, and Amanda Bergeron, Globe Correspondent
Violent winds from a slow-moving spring storm toppled trees and knocked out power to tens of thousands of people this morning, but begun to subside slightly in time for the start of 111th Boston Marathon.
Heavy bands of rain continued to batter New England, and wind gusts are expected to remain as strong as 50 miles per hour, blowing in face of the 23,000 runners. The race, however, remains on schedule.
"Right now it's full steam ahead," said Marc Chalufour, a spokesman for the Boston Athletic Association.
The wheelchair division began at 9:25 a.m., followed by the elite women at 9:35 and the first wave of 10,000 runners at 10 a.m., which includes the elite men.
The rain and winds are expected to ease in the early afternoon, said Charlie Foley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton.
"This storm has parked itself over Long Island," Foley said. "I would say by midday, we will start to go downhill."
Winds gusted as hard at 60 miles an hour in Hingham, and 54 miles per hour inland in Taunton.
Dozens of cities and towns reported localized flooding, but there has been "no serious damage issues," said Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, in a telephone interview on NECN.
"The biggest issue going forward is the 11 o’clock high tide," Judge said.
At 8 a.m., 25,000 of NSTAR's 1.1 million customers were out of power, with the highest concentration of outages in Plymouth, New Bedford, and on Cape Cod.
In Revere and Winthrop, public safety and public works officials were bracing for extensive flooding as the tide crests.
In Winthrop, concern focused on the Point Shirley area. Officials in Revere were watching the neighborhoods of Point of Pines, Beachmont, and Revere Beach Boulevard.
"We have our fingers crossed,” said Paul Argenzio, general foreman of the Revere department of public works.
Crews have pumps in place and are dumping sand to plug gaps along beachfront access walkways. A portion of the Winthrop Parkway has been closed.
There were also reports of scattered power outages in eastern Watertown, Newton, Marblehead, and Gloucester, where officials were also keeping the water level.
"When I came in this morning, the tide was out but water was out over the [seawall]," said police officer Wellesley Eastman.
