MAINE, USA — The biggest storm Maine has seen so far this month moved in Saturday night and into Sunday, bringing high winds, coastal flooding, heavy rain, and snow.
The storm comes at the start of Flood Safety Awareness Week, with moderate coastal flooding and numerous road closures impacting several communities. Flood warnings were issued for some coastal areas of the state until approximately 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Other areas of the state received several inches of snow, with upwards of 7 inches in some Franklin and Oxford County communities.
Thousands were left without power, especially in the southern half of the state.
As of 6:58 p.m. on Sunday, Versant reported about 3,185 customers without power.
As of the same time, about 576 Central Maine Power customers were reported to be without power.
Saco Police Chief Jack Clements noted this year has been unusual for communities along the coast.
"In the last year, I would say that this is a little bit out of the ordinary. It seems like every year it's getting a little bit worse," Clements said.
Clements said the town typically closes an intersection near Camp Ellis due to flooding once a year. However, they've had to close it three times since the new year.
"We've had storms in the past, but it seems like the back-to-back storms [in January] is what really did a lot of damage," he said. "There's gonna be a lot of work to get this cleaned up in the spring."
Old Orchard Beach Town Manager Diana Asanza said the town square was flooded at King Tide, but public works crews were on standby for clean up. She said she's spoken to a few homeowners who are grateful this storm only brought minor flooding.
"As they're trying to recover from January, this on top of it just adds a bit, but thankful it wasn't as bad," Asanza said.
NEWS CENTER Maine had crews out across the state to get a good look at storm impacts. Many viewers sent in pictures and videos of the storm. Here's a roundup.
