Thousands are still without power across Maine on Saturday, after a rain storm blew through the state on Friday, bringing violent wind gusts up to 60 mph and an inch of hard rain.
At 12 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, Central Maine Power reported a total of 20,186 customers without power across the state, with the highest numbers in Lincoln, Hancock, and Somerset counties.
Versant Power reported only 450 active outages on Saturday afternoon, with the highest numbers near Bangor and Bar Harbor.
Friday’s storm prompted early school dismissals, canceled flights, downed trees and utility lines, and caused widespread power outages but did little to lift the state out of its persistent drought.
The National Weather Service in Gray issued gale warnings and urged mariners to stay ashore because of high winds recorded by the National Data Buoy System on Matinicus Rock, about 12 miles off Cape Elizabeth’s Portland Head Light, that topped out at nearly 76 mph at 4:20 p.m. on Friday.
By 4:30 p.m., amid widespread rain and shifting southerly winds, more than 62,000 customers of Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power were in the dark, with Penobscot, Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties among the hardest hit, according to the utility companies.
More than 30 trees fell in Portland, keeping police, fire and public works crews busy throughout the day and working overtime to clear roads and answer calls, city officials said. CMP worked to restore power Friday evening to the city’s 179-bed Riverside Shelter for adults.
“It could have been a lot worse,” said Division Chief Sean Donaghue, spokesman for the Portland Fire Department, who noted that leafless trees and temperatures in the 40s and 50s likely kept the storm from causing more damage.
DANGEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS
Driving conditions were challenging late Friday afternoon when a car and a tractor-trailer collided on the Maine Turnpike northbound near the Biddeford exit, according to the Kennebunk Fire Rescue Department.
One person was transported to the trauma center at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland. It wasn’t immediately known how severe their injuries were.
The crash closed the center and right lanes, backing up traffic for miles while Maine State Police reconstructed the crash, the department said in a social media post.
Parents were among the first to feel the impacts of the windstorm. Some schools in central and Midcoast Maine dismissed students as early as 11 a.m. on Friday to avoid afternoon winds that would make it dangerous to drive high-profile vehicles such as school buses.
Eight flights scheduled to fly in or out of Portland International Jetport on Friday were canceled because of the weather, said Airport Director Paul Bradbury.
One United Airlines flight out of Washington, D.C., that was scheduled to land at the jetport was diverted to Boston, but the passengers eventually made it to Portland around 11:06 a.m. — about 75 minutes later than scheduled, according to online flight data.
WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES
Power outages grew throughout the day on Friday. At midmorning, only a few thousand Maine homes did not have power, according to utility company websites, but those numbers began trending upward with the wind speeds.
Over 45,000 Central Maine Power customers were without electricity at 5 p.m. Friday, including 11,500 in Cumberland County, with significant clusters in Harpswell, Falmouth, Westbrook and Brunswick.
Sagadahoc County had nearly 7,600 customers without power, including high numbers in Topsham, Phippsburg and Bowdoinham. Lincoln County had nearly 5,500 outages, with Jefferson and Damariscotta topping that list.
Kennebec County had more than 5,300 outages, with the largest clusters in West Gardiner, Pittston, Gardiner and Vienna. By 7 p.m. Friday, 36,675 of CMP’s 686,170 customers were without power, according to the company’s website.
While the storm vexed utility crews, first responders and parents who had to scramble for an unexpected early school dismissal, Maine hydrologists, farmers and foresters were glad for an end-of-season soaker that offered some relief to drought-stricken southern Maine.
“I was really, really hoping we would have at least one late-season recharge event before the ground completely froze,” said Sarah Jamison, a senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Gray. “And that is exactly what’s happening.”
The inch of rain that fell over most of the state was enough to eliminate the snowpack in southern Maine, but it wouldn’t be enough to drag Maine out of its persistent drought, Jamison said. Once the ground freezes, it will no longer soak up the rain.
