A downed tree in Sidney on Saturday. Strong winds knocked out power for 70,000 Central Maine Power customers. Central Maine Power contributed photo
Winds of up to 45 miles per hour knocked out electricity to more than 71,200 Central Maine Power customers across the state Saturday morning, but utility crews had restored service to almost 45% by early Saturday evening.
Cumberland County had the most outages as of 10:15 a.m. Saturday at 9,972, according to the CMP online outage tracker. But by 7 p.m., power was restored to all but 814 households. Frye Island, an island of seasonal homes in Sebago Lake, had most of the county’s outages, with 322 of 596 homes dark.
By 7 p.m., statewide outages totaled 32,000. Franklin and Somerset counties had the most outages at 7:30 p.m., with 7,502 and 6,239 outages respectively.
The National Weather Service issued wind advisories for parts of western and central Maine and hazardous weather outlooks for the rest of the state. Winds were expected to hit up to 45 miles per hour, the strongest of which will be felt from the foothills to the Canadian border, before tapering after sunset.
CMP spokesperson Jon Breed said crews began working to restore power Saturday as early as 6 a.m. and started preparing for the wind storm mid-week.
“CMP began tracking the possibility for strong winds on Thursday and placed line crews and tree care crews on double coverage overnight Friday,” Breed said in a statement. “Strong, gusty winds are causing tree damage across our service area today, and crews are already in the field working to clean up damage and restore power.”
Breed said the possibility of a wind storm prompted CMP to hold back from sending crews to support Hurricane Milton’s recovery efforts in Florida.
Most power outages on Saturday were attributed to tree damage, Breed said. Most trees are still full of leaves, meaning large trees are more likely to be uprooted.
“We urge caution if traveling outdoors today, as winds will stay strong throughout the day and more tree damage is possible,” Breed said.
Breed urged customers who lost power to stay away from downed lines, turn off or unplug major appliances and avoid using ranges or outdoor stoves as heat sources. Customers can report outages using the CMP app or website.
Staff reporter Penelope Overton contributed to this report.
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