4 dead in severe northeast storm. hundreds of thousands without power

A fierce storm barreled up the East Coast over the weekend, leaving at least four people dead and hundreds of thousands without power.

Heavy rain inundated communities along the coast on Sunday, causing strong winds and flooding in some areas. Communities saw 3-5 inches of rain and some in the Northeast moved to close schools Tuesday.

There are more than 430,000 customers in Maine alone without power as of Tuesday morning, according to power outage.us. Utility crews are working to restore power to hundreds of thousands in Maine, the Associated Press reported.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced she would delay the opening of state offices Tuesday to allow crews to restore power and clear roads.

“I strongly urge all Maine people to stay off the road if possible,” Mills said in a statement. “If you must travel, please use caution and be sure to allow plenty of room for emergency first responders and crews restoring power and clearing roads.”

Massachusetts and Connecticut also have more than 220,000 customers without power.

Shelters have been set up in Vermont after four people were rescued after flooding in the state. The Green Mountain State was still recovering from major flooding in July, and the most recent storm closed some roads in the state and damaged parts of downtown Montpelier.

Strong winds in Hingham, Mass., caused a tree to fall onto a trailer, killing an 89-year-old man, authorities said. Part of a tree fell and killed another man who was removing debris from his roof in Windham, Maine, police said.

A Lancaster County, Pa., man was pronounced dead after being found submerged in a vehicle Monday morning, according to the AP.

A driver was killed in Catskill, New York, when the vehicle swept into Catskill Creek after passing a barricade on a flooded road. the Times Union reported.

Another person died in South Carolina after his vehicle flooded on a road in a gated community, the AP reported.

Two storms were expected to join forces over the weekend and travel from the south and west up the east coast over the weekend.

While flooding was worst in the northeast, Weather center reported that the heaviest rainfall fell in parts of northeastern South Carolina on Sunday. Two rain gauges in McClellanville and Georgetown recorded about 15 inches of rain.

The Associated Press contributed.