CARIBOU, Maine — Martha Hagan of Presque Isle was on her way to do some shopping on Tuesday, Oct. 15, when she noticed a commotion at the Mars Hill IGA.
She had her three grandchildren with her, and they suddenly started pointing.
“We couldn’t believe what we saw,’ she said Monday, Oct. 21. “The roof was actually peeled back on the building. The wind was pretty strong at that time of the day and we knew that we were facing some heavy winds and rain, but that was amazing. None of us could believe it.”
A powerful fall nor’easter blew across Maine Oct. 15, leaving hundreds of thousands of Mainers in the dark across the state at the storm’s peak. The bulk of the power outages occurred in southern Maine.
Power has been restored to much of the state, but there are still approximately 2,500 residents without power in southern Maine, according to Central Maine Power.
While high winds will not be an issue over the next few days, the National Weather Service in Caribou warned on Monday, Oct. 21, that heavy rains could lead to minor flooding in some parts of the region Tuesday night into Wednesday.
Meteorologists have issued a hazardous weather outlook for the central highlands, coastal downeast Maine, far eastern Maine, far northern Maine, interior downeast Maine, the north woods and the Penobscot Valley. That includes Aroostook, Penobscot, Somerset, Washington, Hancock and Piscataquis counties.
According to the NWS, rain will fall heavily at times during the day on Wednesday. The rain will likely lead to ponding of water on roadways. Any culverts that are plugged with leaves and other debris will fill and could lead to minor flooding.
Motorists should not drive through flooded areas and should turn around when encountering open water on roadways.
