High Winds Knock Out Power for Thousands of Maine Residents

Maine's power utilities are reporting thousands of residents are still without electricity, after a wind and rain storm that took down trees and branches.

How Many Customers Were Without Power?

It was a wild night, with winds projected to gust over 60 miles per hour along the coast, and up to 50 mph inland. Heavy rain added to the chaos of the night which could have been much worse if it hadn't been so warm.

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Overnight, Central Maine Power reported nearly 10,000 customers without electricity, while Versant Power had over 400. By 7:00 Thursday morning, those numbers had increased to 18,561 for CMP and 6,961 for Versant. Crews will work all day to restore power, and the utilities ask that drivers give them plenty of room to work. Because many of these outages were caused by tree and limb damage, the progress will be slowed, at times, as tree crews will need to clear the debris.

What If I Have Trees and/or Lines Down In My Yard?

Remember, as that old Bangor Hydro commercial used to say, "No line is safe to touch....ever." If you have trees or branches that are laying on the power lines, officials caution that it's not safe to try and clear the debris yourself. Contact your local utility company and let the tree experts take care of it. While you may be experiencing an outage, you don't want to be touching the line when they turn it back on.

Where Do I Report My Outage?

Central Maine Power customers can report their outage online or by calling 1-800-696-1000. Versant Power customers can also report an outage on the utility's website or by calling 207-973-2000 or 1-855-363-7211.