AUGUSTA — It was a fairly busy night for Augusta police when an unseasonably early snowstorm reached central Maine Saturday evening.
Sgt. Danny Boivin said many cars were off the roads and a number of trees and power lines were brought down by wind and heavy, wet snow.
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“There were no serious accidents reported, just a lot of fender benders and a lot of vehicles off the road,” Boivin said Sunday. “It actually hasn’t been too bad this morning. I’ve been on since 6:30 (a.m.), and we’ve only had a couple vehicles off the road. It could be because traffic is light. It would be a different story if this was a Monday.”
At 11:30 a.m., state police reported no accidents in the area, just that traffic was moving slowly. Dispatchers said troopers were responding Saturday night and early Sunday morning to reports of cars sliding off the road and accidents on the Maine Turnpike. At least two accidents involved minor injuries.
At least 150,000 electric utility customers were without power Sunday morning. Central Maine Power Co. reported about 143,000 customers, mostly in the southern part of the state, had lost power. That number rose from earlier in the day, when CMP reported 130,000 without service.
Bangor Hydro Electric Co. had more than 7,200 outages.
The snowstorm stretched from Maryland to Maine and brought down branches and power lines, knocking out power to millions.
Officials said it could be days before electricity is restored. More than 2.3 million customers from Maryland to New England lost power by early Sunday. Snow stopped falling in New England late Sunday as the storm tracked toward Nova Scotia. Gusty wind was reported to continue into Sunday evening.
Mechele Cooper — 621-5663
mcooper@centralmaine.com
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