Power lines sag beneath the weight of a fallen tree on Route 209 between Getchell and Lemont streets in Bath on Monday. Courtesy of Bath Police Department
Power outages racked up across the Midcoast as gusty winds reaching 60 mph and heavy rain swept across the state Monday, hitting coastal communities especially hard. Several towns in the area were completely in the dark.
In Brunswick, more than 9,000 of Central Maine Power’s 11,690 customers were in the dark as of 5:30 p.m. Brunswick schools closed their doors and sent students home shortly after noon Monday as outages became more widespread.
The towns of Phippsburg, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Georgetown, Arrowsic and Woolwich didn’t have a single customer with power as of Monday evening, according to CMP outage reports.
In Harpswell, all but 100 of CMP’s roughly 4,700 customers were in the dark. Harpswell Harbor Master Paul Plummer said he’s waiting until Tuesday to fully assess the damage, as piers and waterfront properties may have suffered more severely from high winds.
About 3,500 Topsham homes and businesses — more than half of CMP’s customers in town — were without power as of Monday evening. The same was true of Bath, with 3,000 of CMP’s 5,000 customers without power.
In Topsham, Maine School Administrative District 75 Superintendent Heidi O’Leary announced early dismissal at just before 11 a.m., citing power lines down in Harpswell and fallen trees on lines in Bowdoinham. Mt. Ararat Middle and High schools closed soon after, while Woodside Elementary, the Bowdoinham Community School and Williams-Cone Elementary, also in Topsham, all released students at approximately at 12:30 p.m.. Bowdoin Central School and the Harpswell Community School followed suit minutes later. O’Leary said schools are expected to open tomorrow.
In Freeport, 1,500 of CMP’s 5,000 customers were without power. Both Regional School Unit 5 and the Maine Coast Waldorf School canceled all afterschool activities.
Winds finally started to subside around 6 p.m. Monday, with crews hitting the roads to restore electricity and clear debris.
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