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CHATHAM - The remnants of Hurricane Noel battered the southern coast of New England yesterday with heavy rain and strong winds, toppling trees and knocking out power but causing no known deaths or injuries.
Several inches of rain and gusts of up to 85 miles per hour pummeled the Cape and the Islands, where the hurricane that had swept through the Caribbean late last week hit New England as a northeaster. The US Coast Guard reported no troubles at sea after mariners heeded warnings, braced for high seas, and scrambled to secure their boats.
The MBTA temporarily shut down ferries in the Cape and the Islands area.
In Chatham, where heavy rain began falling early yesterday afternoon, Stuart F.X. Smith, the harbormaster, said he was worried about the southernmost cabin on North Beach falling prey to erosion. But he said the towns of Brewster and Dennis could face tougher problems.
Forecasters said conditions on the water were very dangerous, with high winds and seas building until late in the afternoon. They also said they were concerned that Noel's arrival would coincide with the evening high tide, which could threaten some beaches on the Cape and Islands. The storm was expected to do the most damage last night, and Smith said they would know the full extent of the erosion this morning.
Forecasters predicted that the Cape and Islands would receive 4 to 5 inches of rain, with rainfall amounts declining steeply toward the interior. The Boston area was expected to receive 1 to 2 inches.
More than 55,000 NStar and National Grid customers statewide suffered power outages as of 9 last night. Both agencies expected to have crews working through the night. Additional crews from NStar's northern territory were dispatched to the hardest-hit areas, the utility reported.
On Nantucket, a brief power outage affected 2,600 National Grid customers yesterday afternoon, but power was quickly restored, said Jackie Barry, a company spokeswoman.
Storm buffs crowded along the coast early yesterday, bringing their children to view the storm and sitting in cars and taking snapshots of the gathering tempest.
"I just wanted to see what it looked like in these conditions," said Janet McKay, 50, of Brewster, who ran up to take a photo with a camera wrapped in plastic. "We don't see this very often," said Bob Moore, 83, of South Yarmouth, whose wool hat flew off as he took a picture in Chatham.
"I've never seen it boarded up before," said his wife, Eileen, motioning toward a Coast Guard lighthouse in Chatham. "It's like Florida."
Others crowded into bookstores to stock up on reading material during the storm. At the Sandwich basin of the Cape Cod Canal at high tide, Andy Keese, 35, of Bourne, sat in a pickup in a parking lot smoking a cigar and watching waves crash over the sea wall.
"I like seeing the destruction," he said. Hurricane Noel, the deadliest storm this year in the Atlantic, slammed the Caribbean last week, causing flooding and mudslides and killing at least 130 in Haiti and the Dominican Republic combined. In New England, the damage appeared limited; the strong winds apparently were slowed at sea. The Coast Guard reported that some boats ripped from their moorings in Newport, R.I.
One reward for all the trouble? Today's forecast is sunny, with highs in the mid-50s.
Kathy McCabe of the Globe staff and Globe correspondents John Guilfoil, John Forrester and Adam Sell contributed to this report.
(Correction: Because of incorrect information provided by the state emergency management agency, a story in yesterday's City & Region section said NStar had positioned trucks at Gillette Stadium in preparation for Saturday's storm. The trucks were from National Grid.)
(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in late editions of Sunday's City & Region section about the effects of Saturday's storm on the region incorrectly said the MBTA halted ferry service between the Cape and Islands. The Steamship Authority runs island ferries and suspended operation during the storm.)
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
