Strong winds and heavy rains swept through the already soggy state Saturday, leaving tens of thousands of customers without power Sunday morning.
Emera Maine reported a peak of nearly 44,000 customers without power because of the storm, with the majority of outages in Hancock, Aroostook and Penobscot counties. By 5 p.m. Sunday, the company had reduced their number of outages to just more than 10,000, with about 600 still in The County, mostly in the central Aroostook area.
Central Maine Power reported a peak of 38,000 customers without power. Over the course of the storm, a total of 56,300 of their customers were affected, with the majority of outages in Franklin, Somerset and Waldo counties. By 5 p.m. Sunday, utility crews reduced that number to 13,000 outages.
“We made good progress today. … Gusty winds did cause additional trouble in the course of the day, but we had a good plan and the resources we needed to more than keep pace,” Kevin Elwell, director of electric operations for CMP, said in a prepared statement. “We had a goal to complete the restoration in the southern part of the state by [Sunday] evening, and we expect to make it. We have already begun shifting extra resources into the communities farther north, and we will continue supplementing our crews in those areas for [Monday].”
The National Weather Service in Gray reported sunny skies all day Sunday for southern Maine, except for a few clouds in the mountains, and temperatures a few degrees below average.
The NWS in Caribou advised people in northern Maine Sunday to be aware of wind gusts from the west, but those gusts were expected to ease by Sunday afternoon. Monday’s forecast is tranquil, with partly sunny skies, but more rain is predicted for Tuesday, with gusty winds returning to the state on Wednesday.
BDN writer Aislinn Sarnacki contributed to this report.
