PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Thunderstorms Saturday deposited about a third of an inch of rain and left a large part of the city without electricity for part of the afternoon, while a local facility narrowly escaped damage from a falling tree limb.
Officials at the National Weather Service Office in Caribou said they had reports citing 0.3 and 0.33 inches of precipitation, with winds estimated at 25 mph. Some areas around The County noted hail as well.
Emera Maine reported outages in Aroostook and northern Penobscot counties, including the local communities of Ashland, Castle Hill, Chapman, Mapleton, Masardis, Oxbow and Portage, as well as Presque Isle.
According to the company’s social media updates, crews were also responding Monday to outages caused by high winds and impending thunderstorms.
The Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library was a victim of Saturday’s storm, losing a large piece of the maple tree on its front lawn. High winds tore off a limb of the tree and sent it crashing to the ground, with its uppermost leaves literally resting on the building itself.
Fortunately — and remarkably — the incident left the structure untouched, Library Director Sonja Plummer said Monday.
“It’s amazing there was no more damage,” she said. “We are very fortunate. There was only damage to part of the lawn.
“Of course, our biggest concern is the safety of our patrons,” added Plummer. “Some of the memorial gardens and benches will be inaccessible until the tree is removed.”
Workers were to begin clearing the fallen limb later on in the day, she said, and though it was uncertain whether what remains of the tree could be saved, an arborist would be consulted.
