More than a dozen communities in Aroostook County are experiencing outages as a powerful wind storm makes its way through Maine today.
Approximately 983 customers have experienced power outages so far in the County due to the high winds, Emera Maine stated earlier in the day.
Affected areas include Grand Isle, Madawaska, St. Agatha, Fort Kent, Mars Hill and Oakfield. Wisdom High School in St. Agatha also reported they were without power earlier in the day but the power returned around 11 a.m., according to the school.
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- Starbarn Road in Frenchville is closed at the intersection of Pelletier Avenue until further notice due to a flooding. (Courtesy of Town of Frenchville)
Although the majority of outages are in the coastal regions, some areas of the County are being hit with washouts, flood warnings and downed power lines.
Powerful winds caused this tree to topple over onto the Fort Kent home of Mike and Sheri Albert on Friday afternoon. The Albert’s are thankful nobody was hurt. (Sheri Albert)
“We are getting many reports of water over roadways causing hazardous travel and in some cases closing the roads,” the Aroostook County Emergency Management posted on their Facebook page Friday morning.
“Please use caution as the day moves on we expect to see heavy winds in our area causing more road and power issues.”
In Frenchville, the Starbarn Road near Pelletier Avenue intersection has been closed off due to roadway flooding. The town is asking drivers to use alternate routes until all the damage is assessed.
Judy Long, the media communications specialist with Emera Maine, said the company was not yet able to give specific restoration times.
She added that most of the outages, if not all, were caused by falling trees and tree limbs.
“Our crews are out in full force this morning addressing outages throughout our service territory in northern and eastern Maine,” she said in an email Friday.
Powerful winds caused a spruce tree to topple over onto the Fort Kent home of Mike and Sheri Albert on Friday afternoon.
“We felt the house shake,” Sheri Albert said.
Albert said she is thankful nobody was injured in the incident but they are not sure yet what damage may have been done to their home.
“It could have been much worse,” she said.
Staff writers Nina Mahaleris, Morgan Mitchell and Jessica Potila contributed to this report.
