Emera Maine says it has restored service to nearly half of the customers who lost power Monday, and the company hopes to have power restored to almost all of its customers by Saturday.

The storm brought heavy rainfall and damaging winds to the state Monday.

"This storm caused the most outages we have seen since the 1998 ice storm," the utility said in a Tuesday news release.

Wind gusts exceeded 65 mph in Penobscot and Hancock counties and brought down large trees and limbs, damaging utility poles and wires.

Southern Penobscot and Hancock counties were hit hard, accounting for 75 percent of the total outages.

The company on Tuesday released power restoration projections for its customers.

  • Washington County - almost all remaining customers restored by 10 p.m. Tuesday
  • Aroostook County - almost all remaining customers restored by 10 p.m. Tuesday
  • Northern Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties (Milo to Lincoln to Millinocket) - 90 percent of customers restored by 10 p.m. Thursday, almost all customers restored Friday
  • Southern Penobscot County (Greater Bangor, Orono/Old Town) - 90 percent of customers restored by 10 p.m. Friday, almost all customers restored Saturday
  • Hancock County — 90% of customers restored by 10 p.m. Friday, almost all customers restored Saturday

“We would like to thank our employees and all first responders for their hard work keeping the public safe during this event,” Emera Maine President Alan Richardson said in the release. “We also want to thank our customers for their patience as we have worked to restore service to our neighbors."

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