Officials from Maine’s two largest electric utilities say it will likely take through the end of the week to restore power after Monday’s destructive storm, though the hardest-hit areas could be waiting until Christmas.
Restoration efforts could take into the weekend for heavily damaged areas, Central Maine Power said in a Tuesday morning update. Interior parts of the state likely have longer restoration timelines, perhaps from five to six days, because some areas are too heavily flooded to access, spokesperson Jon Breed said around 3:30 p.m.
The company serves 673,950 customers in central and southern Maine, and 262,050 were without power as of 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to its website.
Versant will work to restore power through the end of the week, spokesperson Judy Long said. The company serves 166,598 customers in eastern and northern Maine, and there were roughly 96,000 outages at the peak of the storm. About 80,000 customers remained without power as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, with the largest pockets in Bangor, Brewer, Ellsworth, Hampden and Orrington.
Monday’s wind storm brought widespread destruction and power outages to Maine just before December holidays. Two people are dead, and two others are missing after their vehicle was washed away in a flood in Mexico. No one can say exactly how long it will take to restore power, but Mainers should be prepared for days without it, according to the latest from its largest utilities.
“We have damage at our substations that needs to be repaired before we can move to distribution lines. That’s our focus today,” Long said, adding emergencies, like moving trees off power lines, will be prioritized.
CMP brought in “several hundred personnel” ahead of the storm, Breed said. More than 650 workers from as far away as Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and the Canadian province of Ontario are starting to arrive to assist with the removal of debris and trees.
In an update posted at 11 a.m. Tuesday, the company wrote that close to 2,000 people, including 1,400 line and tree workers across its service area, are working to bring power back to parts of Maine. Arborists, mechanics and damage assessors and others from CMP’s sister companies in New York and Connecticut are also involved.
Damage assessors observe broken trees and poles, transformers that need to be replaced and wires that need to be restrung, then decide the crews and equipment needed for repairs. They do this by driving the extent of circuits and in some cases flying helicopters.
Versant began preparing for the storm last week, relying on daily updates from its meteorologist and the National Weather Service. The company was prepared Monday morning with a full slate of internal and contractor crews and support staff, knowing the storm would likely be powerful, Long said.
As restoration wraps up in communities affected earlier by the storm, the company hopes to pick up more crews. No utility ever has enough workers to deal with a storm of this magnitude without help from contractors and other utilities, Long said.
“Our approach is to try to go after damage to circuits that serve the largest number of customers,” she said, which does not necessarily mean tackling cities before more rural areas.
CMP and Versant urged members of the public not to remove trees and branches from power lines. It may take time, but crews will get there, the companies said.
During storms such as these, CMP works with partners like the Maine Emergency Management Agency to clear roads for emergency vehicles and de-energize downed wires. Crews prioritize important facilities, including hospitals and water and sewer treatment plants.
“We will work around the clock until power is restored to all customers,” the company said.