SCARBOROUGH, Maine — After freezing rain coated most of southern Maine with ice, communities across the Pine Tree State were left cleaning up Sunday.
Downed trees and powerlines brought down by heavy ice dotted streets across Maine, something municipal crews worked through the day to clean up.
"It was a shock. It was a surprise to us," Scarborough Fire Chief Rich Kindelan said. "We expected some rain, some snow, and maybe some local flooding."
Once the ice began accumulating Saturday night, he said dispatch received close to two months' worth of service calls to the area.
"I think we have several days of cleanup, and I believe we might be without power for at least another day," Kindelan added.
As a result, many surrounding towns and cities jumped to open up warming shelters across the state, including Biddeford, Scarborough, Portland and more.
In Westbrook, Lilly Vandersteenhoven, who runs Bloom Consignment and Retail, decided to open up her business as a warming shelter after she lost power at her house.
"I know so many people who don't have power, and a lot of folks without cars or not able to take public transport so I just wanted to put it out there on Facebook," Vandersteenhoven said. "A couple people have stopped by. It was really busy earlier. I think it was a lot of people who felt really cooped up yesterday and just needed to get out."
Jake Stone, who lost power at his residence in Saco, tried to stop by several businesses who also were left without power before landing on the Scarborough warming center.
He says being able to charge up and meet with others in the same boat as him has been a relief.
"While we are out of power, this is kind of a beautiful disaster," Stone said, motioning to the frozen branches.