BRUNSWICK — A Halloween storm brought heavy rain and wind overnight that knocked out power to several hundred people in the Midcoast.
As of 5 a.m. Friday, the Central Maine Power Co. website listed the most outages in Sagadahoc County, where there were 7,228 customers without power, a jump from the 5,800 customers listed without power an hour earlier
Also hard hit was in Bath (2,395), Georgetown (1,204) and West Bath (1,104).
The majority of Woolwich was without electricity by 6 a.m. this morning as CMP reported 1,611 of 1,714 residents in the dark. Woolwich Central School was closed.
All 306 CMP customers in Arrowsic were without power.
Brunswick had the most outages in Cumberland County. There were 1,506 Brunswick customers and 1,812 Harpswell customers without power as of 4:50 a.m.
CMP hadn’t yet provided any estimated times for power restoration.
There were reports of downed trees in several places in Brunswick, including on Columbia Avenue near Brunswick Junior High School. Brunswick Fire Chief Ken Brillant said a tree was blocking Bath Road by the Bowdoin Pines.
High winds continued throughout Friday morning. According to the U.S. National Weather Service, gusts ranged from 45 to 57 miles per hour. Some areas could see even 60 mph gusts from mid-morning through early afternoon.
CMP announced Thursday that clearing downed lines and debris from roads will be the priority for its crews. Line crews will start early Friday, and the company has retained close to 80 contractor crews for an initial response with more than 60 additional contractors crews available as needed.
“As was the case with the storm two weeks ago, the trees are in soft ground and many still have leaves. This makes them more prone to uprooting and limbs can fall and damage poles and lines,” said Kevin Elwell, director of electric distribution for CMP. “Everyone should stay far away from any downed lines.”
The Maine Emergency Management Agency also reminded people Thursday never to drive across or attempt to remove fallen power lines or any tree limbs touching them.
Residents should contact their town office or call 2-1-1 for sheltering and warming center locations, according to the agency.
Maine’s other major electric utility, Emera Maine reported 11,798 outages at 12:30 a.m., with most of those concentrated in Penobscot and Hancock counties.
Earlier this month, a nor’easter knocked out power to about 180,000 of Central Maine Power Co.’s 646,000 customers. It took several days before power could be restored to all of them.
Temperatures will drop into the 50s by Friday night with a mild, sunny weekend in the forecast for Greater Portland.
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