Renewed winds causing problems for crews trying to repair damage from a storm that began Thursday. Emera Maine and Central Maine Power both say, even as repairs were made following a first wave of wind overnight, a second wave of gusty winds caused more damage.
Emera Maine is reporting more than 22,310 homes and businesses without power just before 1 p.m. Saturday. Central Maine Power is reporting more than 39,490.
CMP spokesperson Katherine Hartnett says that, at this point, the company is not providing estimates of when power might be restored.
“We have to completely clear the damage, the equipment, the poles that have fallen into the road to make sure emergency vehicles can get through before we fully commit to power restoration,” she says.
CMP says that, unlike the recent Nor’easter that was primarily a coastal event, this wind has caused outages across its service territory.
Emera spokesperson Judy Long says they expect restoration crews to be working through the weekend.
“As long as the winds are continuing to blow through northern and eastern Maine we know we’re going to continue to see more outages and we’re going to have to continue that process of evaluating down lines and assessing damage,” she says.
