Central Maine Power Co. and public works crews spent Monday morning assessing the damage of Sunday’s storm that knocked down trees, snapped utility poles, and brought down power lines causing wide-spread power outages and road closures across the state.

Dispatchers at the Cumberland County Regional Communications Center have received hundreds of calls since midnight with reports of power lines down, trees blocking roadways and small fires. Bill Holmes, the communications director, said fires were caused as a result of wires coming down, but no structures caught fire.

“Since midnight, we have been inundated with calls both emergency and non-emergency,” Holmes said. “We are extremely busy.”

Road closures have been reported in dozens of cities and towns across southern Maine. 

In Windham, Walter Partridge Road was closed after a tree fell and got caught in the power lines. The town’s public works crews started at 3 a.m. Monday morning picking up large tree limbs and debris that had fallen in the road.

In Falmouth, trees fell down on Falmouth Road, Waites Landing and Hillside Road.

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A tree fell through the roof of a home on Maine Street in New Gloucester and at the intersection of Routes 202 and 115 in Gray.

The storm caused havoc in Freeport, closing four roads: Pine Street at the intersection of Stage Coach Road, Baker Road at the intersection of Cedar Lane, Burnett Road at the intersection of Wolf’s Neck Road and Hideaway Lane.

“At one time, five roads were blocked with trees down,” said Freeport Fire Chief Darrel Fournier. “We are working to make sure roads are accessible for emergency services.”

The high winds also knocked out power to thousands of customers across southern Maine.

CMP spokesperson Gail Rice said as of 10 a.m., about 59,400 customers are still without power, including 26,300 in Cumberland County, 8,600 customers in Sagadahoc County and 7,700 customers in Androscoggin County. Rice said CMP crews across the state are working quickly to assess the damage and restore power to homes. She said CMP has called contractors and other utilitiy crews from New York State to help with the effort.

She said crews have reported about 40 utility poles broken.
“We are still assessing the damage,” Rice said. “This was a big one.”

Chris Kimble, a meteorologist with the national weather service in Gray said the highest wind gusts were reported at 12:40 a.m. in Portland at 55 knots or 63 miles-per-hour. He said the wind gusted at about  45 miles-per-hour through the morning early hours. As of 10:15 a.m., wind gusts are at about 15 miles-per-hour.


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