Lincoln County largely escaped significant damage from a massive weather system that spawned a tornado watch in southern Maine last night.
According to the Lincoln County Emergency Management Office, Boothbay and Waldoboro each still have one road closed due to storm damage. A section of River Road in Newcastle washed away last night but that road is now reopened.
Elsewhere, according to Central Maine Power Company (CMP) spokesperson Gail Rice, CMP crews were out in full force Thursday morning, working to repair damage after severe thunderstorms packing high winds came through parts of southern Maine Wednesday evening.
At 8 a.m. Thursday, an estimated 11,400 customer accounts were without service, down from a peak of about 23,000 accounts Wednesday evening. Hardest hit are York County with 7500 accounts without service, Cumberland County with 2750 customers affected, and Sagadahoc County, with an estimated 730 customers without service. Smaller outage numbers are reported in Lincoln, Oxford, Androscoggin, and Knox Counties.
“The high winds from this storm uprooted trees and brought them down onto power lines in many communities throughout southern Maine,” Rice said. “While our crews spent much of the overnight hours grounding and de-energizing downed lines to make them safe, they were also able to restore power to about half the customers that had lost service Wednesday evening.”
CMP crews have already found more than 30 broken utility poles in York and Cumberland Counties, and that number is expected to increase as the assessment continues. The utility has hundreds of line and tree workers, along with pole-setting crews, tree crews, assessors, and others in the field. Many additional people are working in support roles in the company’s call centers and offices.
The company urges customers to use caution if they see downed lines.
“Everyone should stay clear of any downed power lines and fallen trees or limbs that may be tangled in the lines,” said Rice. “These should all be considered live and dangerous. Customers should leave the clean-up to our crews, who are trained and equipped to handle these situations safely.”
CMP also reminds drivers to use caution when approaching utility crews in the roadway. The working conditions are difficult, and they will appreciate everyone’s consideration for their safety.
Additional information on storm safety and restoration, including a town-by-town listing of outages in the CMP service area with an area map, can be found on CMP’s website at www.cmpco.com.
