Lincoln County residents continue to dig out of an a early season snowstorm that dumped more than 6 inches of wet, heavy snow on parts of the county Nov. 2 and left much of the county without electricity.
According to Central Maine Power Company, as of 1:30 p.m., 18,556 of CMP’s 26,682 Lincoln County customers remain without power.
Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo counties were among the hardest hit by the storm in the Midcoast area. As of 11 a.m. Monday, an estimated 82,500 customers were without service.
“The heavy snow and strong winds knocked out power to more than 80 percent of the homes and businesses in some counties along the Midcoast,” said CMP spokesperson Gail Rice. “The severity of the damage and icy roads are adding to the difficulties facing crews in those areas.”
In Lincoln County, warming shelters have been established at the Alna, Dresden, Wiscasset, and Edgecomb fire stations, as well as the Faith Baptist Church on Mills Road in Newcastle.
CMP is setting up mobile command centers in Wiscasset, Union, and Bucksport to aid in storm recovery. CMP will also re-assign crews into areas with the worst damage as they complete the restoration in other parts of the state.
“Our focus today is to restore service on some of our major lines as we bring in additional crews and assess the damage on our system,” Rice said. “We also have people in helicopters surveying transmission lines from the air to make sure we have a complete assessment of the damage to our system.”
Utility officials are also sensitive to the timing of the storm response with tomorrow’s elections, and have been in communication with the Maine secretary of state and municipal officials. Municipal officials have been encouraged to evaluate preparedness at their polling places and have contingency plans in place.
Ahead of state and local elections set for Tuesday, Nov. 4, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said his office is working closely with CMP and Emera to assess whether any polling places have been impacted by the power outages, and to help plan for alternate voting locations or alternate power sources, if necessary.
“The important thing to remember is that we use paper ballots” Dunlap said in a press release. “As long as people can mark their ballots by 8 p.m. on Election Day, their vote will be counted. Our town clerks are working diligently to make sure that polling locations are up and functional tomorrow, and any adjustments that need to be made will be made public as broadly as we can.
“In the meantime, folks should plan on being able to vote tomorrow as normal while power crews work to restore electricity to the affected areas.”
If any polling places are still without electricity by the time polls are set to open on Election Day, voters will be notified with a sign on the door directing them to an alternate location, according to Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn.
Town and city clerks in the affected areas will also reach out to local media outlets to announce the alternate locations.
Dunlap advised voters to check with their town or city clerk to see if their scheduled polling place will remain open.
To report a power interruption, contact CMP at 800-696-1000. Each call automatically creates a work order and sets the stage for dispatch of crews to the outage location.
The company urges customers to use caution if they see downed lines.
“Everyone should stay clear of any downed power lines or fallen trees that may be tangled in the lines,” said Rice. “All downed lines should be considered live and dangerous. Customers should leave the cleanup to our crews, who are trained and equipped to handle these situations safely.”
CMP also reminds drivers to use caution when approaching utility crews. The working conditions are difficult, and the workers 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, is on CMP’s website at www.cmpco.com.
