Photo: James Rojas (WBZ)
CHATHAM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Post-Tropical Cyclone Lee made its presence known on Cape Cod and the Islands Saturday morning.
The storm, which was downgraded from a hurricane, arrived in New England late Friday evening into Saturday with heavy rain, strong winds, rough surf, dangerous rip currents, and beach erosion.
According to WBZ-TV and the National Weather Service, the fiercest wind gusts were reported in Dennis (63 mph), Barnstable (62 mph), Eastham (60 mph), Provincetown (60 mph), and Edgartown (55 mph). The wind reportedly downed some trees onto power lines along the coast, causing thousands of power outages.
Despite the initial blast of stormy weather, the severity of the storm gradually decreased as it moved northeast towards Maine and Canada. Speaking with WBZ NewsRadio late Saturday morning, Cape residents the outcome of the storm to be overall positive.
"A couple of trees down around town, not as much damage as I feared," said one Chatham man.
"In this case, we got lucky," another man said. "It’s far enough off coast that it’s not doing anything."
"We didn’t get any flooding, either," said one woman. "Usually when it rains that bad, we get flooded out in front of the house. We didn’t get any of that."
Many headed down to their local beaches to take in the large waves.
"I just showed up. I have to go work, so I just wanted to see the waves. It’s definitely pretty cool," a Sandwich man told WBZ.
"I got up early this morning and was at the lighthouse at around 6:00," said a Chatham man. "And I drove through town, downtown Chatham, and the old Cape Codders were out there walking their dogs in 35 mph winds in their flip flops, so I was very impressed. They’re a tough breed up here."
Shortly after noon, Governor Maura Healey lifted the states of emergency put in place earlier this week related to severe weather and flooding.
WBZ's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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