BOSTON—A nor’easter that battered the Atlantic coast with hurricane-force wind gusts left more than a half-million homes and businesses without power in New England and forced the closure of bridges, ferries and schools in the region Wednesday. Utility workers labored to restore power as the storm’s winds and rain, which were felt as far north as Nova Scotia, diminished throughout the day. Restoring power in the hardest-hit areas in southeastern Massachusetts will take days, the utility Eversource told the Cape Cod Times. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported about 425,000 power outages after powerful winds blew tree branches laden with wet, heavy leaves onto power lines. Utilities reported about 90,000 customers without power in Rhode Island, 17,000 in Maine, 15,000 in Connecticut, and 6,000 in New Hampshire. Officials advised against travel in southeastern Massachusetts because of wind, toppled trees, and downed power lines. At the airport in New Bedford, the …