Updated 10:05 p.m.
About 42,800 customers in Maine remain without power as utility crews continue to work to restore electric service in the wake of the heavy rain and high winds that hit Thursday night.
Updated 8:45 p.m.
About 47,000 customers in Maine remain without power as utility crews continue to work to restore electric service in the wake of the heavy rain and high winds that hit Thursday night.
Updated 12:20 p.m.
York County officials say progress is being made recovering from this week’s powerful wind and rain storm.
Rick Davis, a spokesman for the York County Emergency Management Agency, said all but a handful of the roughly 150 roads that were closed at some point Friday have reopened. Davis said only a few back roads remain closed.
More than 20,000 Central Maine Power Co. customers in the county remain without electricity, Davis said, but the utility has told the agency it hopes to have almost everyone reconnected by the end of the day Sunday.
Shelters at Marshwood High School and the Saco Community Center will remain open at least through tonight, Davis said.
Davis said the recovery from the storm is progressing, but that York and Wells sustained “some major damage” to roads and infrastrucutre.
Although a final determination won’t be made until next week, Davis said county officials will likely ask Gov. John E. Baldacci to seek a disaster declaration from the federal government. That would allow local governments to seek some reimbursement for costs associated with the storm.
About 68,800 customers in Maine remain without power as utility crews continue to work to restore electric service in the wake of the heavy rain and high winds that hit Thursday night.
Central Maine Power said this morning that it was closing in on the halfway point in restoring power to its customers in the state. At the peak Friday morning, more than 133,000 customers were without power.
“We’re hoping to make a big push today,” said Gail Rice, a spokeswoman for the utility. “We’ve got a lot of our assessments complete.”
Rice said the company was nearly done checking on its 3-phase lines, which are larger lines serving neighborhoods, and scheduling restoration work. After that’s complete, the utility will move on to phase 1 lines, which generally serve individual streets or buildings.
Rice said crews are arriving today from Canada, Michigan and Florida and some contracted crews are expected later today and tomorrow from New York, where CMP’s parent company is located.
York County has the greatest number of customers without power at about 23,800 as of 10 a.m., Rice said, but Lincoln County has the highest percentage of customers affected, at about 43 percent.
“We’ve got a ways to go, but we’re making progress,” she said.
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