As the cleanup continues from Lee, CMP said most outages should be restored by the end of Sunday
Sep. 17—Electric utility Central Maine Power said Sunday that power would be restored by day's end to most customers who lost electricity when Tropical Storm Lee passed through the Gulf of Maine a day earlier.
"Crews worked through the night. We are working to have the vast majority of outages restored today," said CMP spokesman Jon Breed. The company is focused on restoring power to businesses, schools and other key locations so they can open Monday "and get back to daily life," he said. "We understand the needs of our customers."
On Sunday Gov. Janet Mills suspended the State of Emergency she had declared as the storm approached.
The Maine Emergency Management Agency and other state agencies were working with local safety officials on cleanup and recovery, while CMP and Versant Power continued to clean up fallen trees and limbs and restore power to customers, Mills said in a statement. The state will continue to have access to federal resources as needed under the President's Emergency Disaster Declaration, Mills said.
The storm wasn't as bad as expected in Southern Maine, but strong winds knocked out power to tens of thousands, and took down trees in many areas. The Down East region was closer to the storm's path and saw more damage.
In Portland, wind gusts peaked Saturday at 44 miles per hour at the Portland International Jetport, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jerry Combs. Winds gusted to 52 mph at the Augusta Regional Airport, 48 mph at several other locations in Cumberland County, including Gray and Brunswick.
The strongest wind gust over land in Maine was recorded in Waldo County at 59 mph, Combs said.
Strong winds continued through the daylight hours Saturday, but then began dropping off.
By 7 p.m., wind gusts were still hitting 40 mph at the jetport — "It started dying off after that," Combs said. By 11 p.m., gusts were just 25 mph, he said, and "as we pulled away at midnight it just shut off."
About 500 line crews were working Saturday, but at times in some locations, CMP crews were unable to work in bucket trucks because of high winds. Crews cannot be use the buckets when winds reach 35 mph, Breed said.
When that happened, "their work didn't stop," he said. "They worked with emergency management agencies to help clear blocked roads from downed trees. We also worked to make sure that downed power lines were (turned off) and returned when the winds decreased," he said.
Statewide, there were less than 17,000 electricity customers without power just before noon on Sunday, and after 3 p.m. outages were down to 9,087, according to CMP's outage list. During the height of the storm on Saturday, there were 61,000 outages.
The county with the most outages after 3 p.m. Sunday were Somerset, 3,452; Lincoln, 1,900; and Knox, 2,236.
In southern Maine, outages numbered 158 in Sagadahoc County, 48 in Cumberland County on Sunday afternoon.
Versant Power, which provides electricity to eastern and northern areas, reported there were 6,484 customers impacted by outages after 3 p.m. on Sunday, down from when more than 36,000 customers were in the dark.
The eastern and northern parts of the state suffered heavy rain and higher winds as it was closer to the eye of the storm, which made landfall Saturday in Nova Scotia, Canada.
One man died Saturday in Searsport when his vehicle was struck by a falling tree. The 51-year-old man's identity will not be released until Monday, according to the Waldo County Sheriff's.
In Aroostook County, a driver from Ohio and his passengers narrowly escaped serious injury Saturday when a tree slammed through the front windshield of the van he was driving.
The Maine State Police reported that John Yoder, 23, was driving a 2017 Ford Transit van south on Route 11 in Moro Plantation when he saw a large tree crashing into the road.
Yoder attempted to stop, but he was unable to avoid the tree. The top of the tree smashed through the front windshield, barely missing Yoder and his passenger. The top of the tree broke off inside the van. Yoder sustained only minor cuts, and his five other passengers in the van were not injured.
Safety officials cautioned that despite blue skies and no wind on Sunday, there could still be some downed trees on the roads and strong rip currents along the coast.
In southern Maine, coastal roads closed during the storm reopened Sunday. Shore Road in Cape Elizabeth and Fogg Road in Scarborough were both reopened after being blocked by fallen trees Saturday, according to police.
On Sunday, Maine Apple Day, Limerick orchard farmer Aaron Libby of Libby & Son U Pick was breathing a sigh of relief that the storm wasn't as bad as feared.
Apple growers had been concerned that the storm might strip apples from trees or even topple fruit trees given how moist the ground has been.
"It was fingers crossed and hold your breath," Libby said. "We're very fortunate. Thankfully the apples stuck on. Some trees leaned," but overall the crop weathered the storm, he said.
Margie Hansel of Hansel's Orchards in North Yarmouth reported said she was also relieved. She picked apples from smaller small trees before Lee hit. "We've got one Honey Crisp tree I picked 25 pounds off the tree because I was afraid it would topple with all the apples."
The wind did knock lose apples off some trees, "but no more so than on any windy day," she said.
Libby said winds in Limerick on Saturday peaked at 46 mph. If winds had reached 10 or 15 mph higher, it could have been devastating, he said. His farm did lose a lot of blueberries. But on Sunday, customers were eager to get apples on Maine Apple Day.
The orchard's second parking lot was filling early in the day, Libby said.
