Thousands without power in after ice storm
YORK COUNTY, Maine – Crews from Central Maine Power continued their efforts Monday to restore electricity throughout the region after an ice storm on Saturday night knocked out power and left more than 200,000 people without heat and light in their homes.
The storm, which started as snow Friday into Saturday, turned to freezing rain, causing powerlines and trees to collapse under the weight of the ice that formed on them.
CMP spokesperson Jon Breed addressed the widespread damage in an update on Monday.
“This storm hit the heart of many of Maine’s most densely populated communities,” Breed said. “We appreciate our customer’s patience as we get large, essential pieces of our grid back online.”
The utility had 478 line crews at work on Monday, restoring power to the remaining 82,000 customers who did not yet have electricity. Restoring power to businesses and health care facilities along the Route 1 corridor was among their pressing tasks, according to CMP.
CMP reported numerous power lines had fallen to the ground throughout the state and urged people to stay far away from them and not touch them under any circumstances.
In Kennebunk, crews with the Kennebunk Light and Power District continued their work as well on Monday. The local utility reported on its website that numerous areas in town – Alewive Road, Webber Hill Road, Clear Brook Crossing and Chick Crossing – suffered “tremendous ice damage” and were not expected to see their power restored until Monday evening.
The storm’s impact on area school districts varied. Students in Sanford did not have school Monday, while those in Wells and Ogunquit reported to class following a two-hour delay in the morning. Students in the RSU 21 communities of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel all had a full day of school.
During the outages, several communities opened warming stations, where people could get out of the cold and charge their cell phones and other electronics. The Kennebunkport Police Department, for example, opened its training room for the public. The Kennebunk Fire Station and the Wells Police Department also made some space available in their communities.
According to meteorologist Jon Palmer, of the National Weather Service in Gray, ice accumulated with varied thickness across York County. Kennebunk racked up half an inch of ice, Palmer said.
Accumulations of snow varied, as well, Palmer said. Coastal communities, such as Kennebunk and Kittery Point, for instance, received 3 inches and 1.7 inches, respectively, while inland towns, such as Cornish, experienced a full foot of snow, according to Palmer.
The ice storm had its fair share of odd sights and sounds. In addition to hearing trees snapping and falling and transformers blowing, some residents on social media reported seeing red and green flashes that were as saturating as the white glares of lightning.
After consulting briefly with colleagues, Palmer said those flashes likely came from “transformers going out.”
“Given that it was cloudy and snowy, and there was low visibility, it doesn’t seem there’d be anything meteorological about that,” he said.