Raging winds and heavy rain hammered the region Friday, knocking down trees and utility poles and prompting power outages, road closures and early school dismissals.

Peaking about 6 p.m., Eversource's outage map reported more than 14,000 outages in southeastern Connecticut. More than 60,000 customers were without power statewide at the time.

For almost an hour Friday evening, the lights were off for about half of Waterford's 9,600 Eversource customers.

The power outages came as a multifaceted nor'easter rolled through New England. According to the National Weather Service, most Connecticut residents saw sustained winds between 30 and 40 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph at some point Friday.

Residents and emergency management teams throughout the area took to social media to warn of downed power lines and debris, blinking traffic lights and flooded roadways.

"It happened all at once," said Angelo Yeitz, Norwich's supervisor of the Public Works streets and parks division. "It was like a twister came through."

Eversource spokesman Mitch Gross said crews continued efforts to restore power.

"Eversource tree and line crews, assisted by thousands of support personnel, have been working nonstop to repair the destruction," the company said in a news release issued about 5 p.m. Eversource said it had restored power to more than 48,000 customers since the storm began.

Gary Lessor, assistant director at The Weather Center at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, said the U.S. Coast Guard recorded wind gusts of 69 mph hitting New London. Gusts of 59 mph were recorded at the Groton-New London Airport. In parts of eastern Massachusetts, wind approached 90 mph, Lessor said.

Rainfall in Groton topped at 1.53 inches, but Lessor noted other portions of the state, along with Massachusetts and New York, were hit with heavy snow.

"Pick your poison," he said. "You get torrential rain and damaging wind, coastal flooding, or snow."

About 600 Norwich Public Utilities customers were without power by 3 p.m., and city Public Works Department crews responded to calls of downed trees across roadways throughout the city. By 8:30 p.m., NPU reported almost 1,200 customer outages; an hour later NPU said it had restored power to 400 of those customers and expected to restore power to all but 100 by midnight.

Combined with Eversource customers, there were still roughly 12,000 customers in the region without power at 9:30 p.m.

Mitchell College and schools in Montville, North Stonington and elsewhere were dismissed early and called off afternoon and evening activities.

Amtrak canceled most Northeast Corridor service, with travel between New York and Boston suspended until at least 6 p.m.

Cross Sound Ferry Services Inc. also paused service due to fierce wind and rain. New London Dock Master Barbara Neff said tug boats helped ferries dock due to high winds. "I've never seen that unless there's an engine problem," she said. "I've never seen it because of wind."

Norwich's flood-prone rivers remained within their banks Friday morning. Half of the Howard T. Brown Memorial Park parking lot, however, was flooded, a city Public Works Department official said. The main portion of the park around the gazebo and fishing pier remained open.

Yeitz said more than 20 trees came down, some tangled with wires across city streets. New London Turnpike was closed for a time, and school buses were stopped when a tree closed Canterbury Turnpike for a while. In places where trees were tangled with wires, city crews have had to await the arrival of NPU crews before clearing the roadway.

"Norwich Public Utilities wants to remind people not to try to remove any downed tree or tree limbs due to the potential of it being tangled with live wires," NPU spokeswoman Jeanne Kurasz said in a news release.

About 3:30 p.m., Groton Utilities said power had been restored after outages in the Groton Long Point, Mumford Cove and Midway Oval areas. At 5:30 p.m., Groton Utilities reported wires were down at Buddington Road and Poquonnock Road intersection, and the corner of Bridge Street and King's Highway.

Preston First Selectman Robert Congdon said several roads were blocked by downed trees, and Eversource reported 233 town customers without power Friday afternoon. A portion of Route 165 was closed throughout the day due to a downed utility pole, and Congdon said Old Jewett City Road and four or five smaller side streets had blockages.

Capt. Todd Olson of the Stonington Police Department reported that the Old Mystic Fire Department shut down the Mystic River Inn on Route 27 due to a roof failure. No injuries were reported. Several individuals staying at the inn were relocated to a hotel in East Lyme, Olson said.

In Waterford, police said Route 85 at the Waterford-Montville line was closed, with trees and wires down. In Montville, where almost 3,000 people were without power, emergency management crews worked to remove several trees that prompted a host of road closures.

Shortly before 3 p.m., the state Department of Transportation reported that debris on Interstate 95 south between exits 73 and 74 led to congestion for about 2.5 miles between exits 80 and 73.

Winds will die down a bit Saturday but still could reach 40 mph, Lessor said. Saturday also could see a mix of rain and snow showers but he said sunshine is expected on Sunday.

This might not be the end of the adverse weather. Lessor said it was "obviously a long way away and things could change significantly," but another storm with winds between 50 mph and 70 mph, plus snow throughout the entire state, could be on its way between Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Day Staff Writers Benjamin Kail, Lindsay Boyle and Claire Bessette contributed to this report.