Heavy rain, wind knock out power to nearly 100,000 in Connecticut

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Thousands of people are waking up without electricity Friday morning as a fierce storm brings heavy wind and rain to the region.

Winds of 15 to 25 mph are predicted, with gusts up to 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service. A wind advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. Friday. 

Overnight into Saturday morning, temperatures are expected to plummet. Wind chills will be below zero on Saturday with a high near 21 degrees.

The state Department of Transportation warned drivers to be extra cautious on the roads, as the temperature will drop quickly starting at about 5 p.m. Drivers who encounter black ice should hold the wheel steady and resist the urge to hit the brakes, according to the DOT.

Nationally, more than 3,000 flights had been canceled as of Friday morning. Bradley International Airport was reporting delays and urging drivers to check their flight status before arriving at the airport.

Eversource said Thursday that as many as 380,000 customers could lose power during the storm. 

As of 8:15 a.m. Friday, 97,333 Eversource customers in Connecticut were without electricity, 7.5% of the utility’s customers in the state.

There were high percentages of customers in the dark in Litchfield County, such as Morris (96.4%), Sharon (66.6%) and Litchfield (55.2%).

In Hartford County, 31.3% of customers in Simsbury did not have power, along with 7% in Bloomfield, 4.6% in Farmington and 3.9% in Enfield. The city of Hartford had 2,964 outages, or 4.9% of its 60,355 Eversource customers.