Two days after storm, thousands of Mainers remain in the dark

A father walks his child to a school bus at a temporary pick up location, Nov. 1, 2017, in Freeport, Maine, where storm-toppled trees still made several roads impassable following Monday's storm. Drought conditions across much of Maine may have contributed to the large numbers of trees that toppled during a storm that walloped the Northeast this week, officials said. (Robert F. Bukaty | AP | BDN)

With nearly 300,000 Maine electricity customers still without power two days after a powerful stormtore through the state, Gov. Paul LePage traveled to Brunswick on Wednesday to survey damage and meet with utility workers.

With total restoration time estimates stretching into late Saturday, communities across Maine are coping with the reality of being without power for several days. As of 9:30 Wednesday, Central Maine Power reported that more than 220,000 customers remained without power, down from a peak of over 400,000 customers without power Monday.

Emera Maine is reporting that more than 40,000 of its customers are still without power.

The damage caused by Monday’s storm is being considered worse than the ice storm of 1998. It could take weeks to fully grasp the cost of the damage it caused, according to the Maine Emergency Management Agency.

“Folks, this storm was massive,” Peter J. Rogers, acting director of MEMA, said Tuesday.

As hundreds of line repair and tree crews work around the clock across the state, utility companies are beginning to release estimated restoration times for areas still without power. However, total restoration for Emera Maine and CMP isn’t likely to occur before Saturday.

The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Two days after storm, thousands of Mainers remain in the dark,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writerLauren Abbate, please follow this link to the BDN online.