MAINE, USA — UPDATE (Tuesday, 11:45 a.m.)
After reaching peak outages of more than 75,000 after Monday's wind storm, crews are working to complete restoration efforts Tuesday.
Central Maine Power (CMP) said in a release Tuesday that in 24 hours, their crews restored power to more than 69,000 customers and will continue to work through the day Tuesday to restore the rest.
As of about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, CMP was reporting around 1,800 customers still without power.
“Our crews worked hard overnight, successfully restoring power to a vast majority of our customers by this morning,” Kerri Therriault, CMP’s director of electric operations, said in a release. “Though we’ve made great progress, our job is not done. We will continue our efforts throughout the day today until power is restored to each and every customer.”
Versant Power, meanwhile, has only about 30 customers still without power, according to their outage map.
Original story (Monday)
Thousands of people in Maine were without power Monday afternoon as strong winds ripped across the state.
At 5 p.m., Central Maine Power (CMP) reported about 29,600 customers without power and Versant Power reported about 5,400 customers in the dark.
The higher elevations in western Maine and New Hampshire were expected to see the strongest wind gusts of 60 miles per hour or higher. Gusts between 40 and 50 miles per hour were forecast for most parts of Maine.
CMP sent out a press release around 12:20 p.m., saying 200 lineworkers were deployed, along with 180 contracted lineworkers and 218 tree workers.
“We are responding as quickly as we can with an emphasis on safety in the face of some very strong winds today,” Kerri Theriault, CMP’s director of electric operations, said in the release. “We understand how frustrating it is to be without power, especially when customers are seeing blue skies outside their window. Safety is our top priority and we are not able to send our lineworkers up in buckets when winds are dangerously high, like what we are seeing today. We will continue to make progress wherever and whenever we can, as quickly as possible.”
Versant Power said crews would continue to work on restore outages until all customers were restored.
The wind was expected to settle down Monday evening and, according to NEWS CENTER Maine Chief Meteorologist Todd Gutner, the next couple of days should be much quieter.
Read more about what to expect for weather in our latest blog.
RELATED: Winds will howl in Maine today
If you see storm damage in your area, please send us photos and videos via the Near ME tool on our mobile app.
With winds forecasted to persist into Monday evening, CMP says it is likely that outages will continue to occur even while CMP makes progress on restoration efforts.
CMP is reminding customers to remember the following if they have lost power:
- Stay away from downed lines. No line is safe to touch.
- Turn off or unplug major appliance and sensitive electronics.
- Never use range or outdoor stoves to heat your home.
- If you need shelter or food, reach out to 211 for available resource.
