YORK COUNTY, Maine — Tens of thousands of Mainers in York County were without power Thursday and could be for days as utility crews begin a lengthy restoration process as the spring storm begins to move out of the state.
As of 7:30 p.m., Central Maine Power reported approximately 90,000 customers in the county without power. Nearly every customer in Acton, Alfred, Lyman, Shapleigh, and others, was still without power.
The York County Emergency Management Agency has opened up warming and charging centers if you or someone you know needs them:
The agency has been posting updates on its website and its social media pages as the times and locations may change.
Management officials are also asking the public to be patient when it comes to power restoration. First responders and utility crews prioritized emergency scenes most of Thursday and will then begin working on widespread outages.
The worst of Thursday's edition of the storm in York County passed through during early afternoon, bringing near white-out conditions, low visibility, more snow, and some high wind gusts.
Many roads looked similar, with snow accumulating on pine tree branches, causing trees to droop over power lines with some eventually crashing down, bringing the power lines with them.
Dozens of plow trucks worked consistently Thursday to improve road conditions. By Thursday evening, many main roads were as clear as possible given the weather.
According to the National Weather Service, Shapleigh saw 21.5 inches of snow by Thursday evening, Acton with 18, and Hollis with 15.4 inches.
The bright spot for the area, Hannaford in Sanford still had power, so Mainers were able to stock up on food, water, and other supplies, as they expect to be without power for at least the rest of the night and into Friday.