Storms Knock Out Power Across Mass.

A series of powerful storms moved east across Massachusetts Thursday, bringing strong winds, hail and heavy rains in some areas.

The National Weather Service extended a severe thunderstorm warning until 7 p.m. for most of eastern Massachusetts as the storm system moved out to sea. Strong winds knocked down trees in many areas, which struck power lines as they fell.

Most of the outages were in the western part of the state. National Grid says Hampden was the hardest hit, with more than 7,300 losing power, while nearly 5,300 were affected in the Berkshires.

As of 5:00 a.m. Friday, less than 8,000 customers were still without power statewide, down from a high of 38,000 outages Thursday night.

Tens of thousands lost power in the neighboring states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The storms complicated cleanup efforts from last week's tornadoes. In Springfield, chain saws whirred amid high heat and humidity as workers cleared tree branches and other messes left by the storms that killed three people and left hundreds living in shelters. The temperature hit 92 on Thursday.

As survivors sought clothing vouchers, diapers and other supplies, volunteers pressed cold water on them because many still lack electricity and thus refrigeration. Fire trucks passed out cases of water in addition to tarps for patching roofs.

The storms brought relief from Thursday's hot and humid weather. A cold front should move in over the weekend, expected to lower temperatures into the 70s.

Across the U.S., the heat has been blamed for at least eight deaths