Year’s largest storm cuts power to 145,000
2/23/09 | 23 comments

Year’s largest storm cuts power to 145,000


Snow totals hit 29 inches in some areas
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY BRIDGET BROWN
James McBride clears a path from his car to the street at the combination residential and office building where he lives on Hammond Street early Monday morning, Feb. 23, 2009. "It's really heavy and sticky," McBride commented of the snow that walloped the state leaving more than a foot in the Bangor area and knocking out power to more than 140,000 customers throughout the state.
The largest winter storm of the season barreled through Maine on Sunday and Monday, blanketing many areas in more than 2 feet of wet, heavy snow and knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

The National Weather Service in Caribou reported Monday evening that a band stretching from Dover-Foxcroft to Houlton had received the heaviest snowfall, according to preliminary reports. The town of Milo in Piscataquis County had received 29.1 inches by Monday evening.

Other impressive amounts recorded Monday in Maine included 25 inches in Orient, 25 inches in Bridgton and 28 inches in Monson, according to the weather service. The highest wind gust of 65 mph was recorded in Cutler, and Houlton
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recorded a gust of 55 mph on Monday morning.

“With the wind, it’s been hard to get the best measurements of snow,” said meteorologist Mal Walker of NWS. “We have over a dozen reports of greater than 2 feet of snow.”

Blowing and drifting snow made for treacherous driving conditions throughout the region, while wind gusts of 30 mph to more than 60 mph kept utility workers busy all day Monday.

At midday, more than 145,000 utility customers throughout Maine lacked electricity as wet, heavy snow snapped tree limbs, power lines and utility poles overnight. An estimated 127,000 utility customers remained without electricity Monday evening. Bangor Hydro reported that more than 11,000 customers were without power as of 5 p.m. Monday, with nearly all of those in Hancock and Washington counties.

The Maine Emergency Management Agency said about 10 warming shelters have been set up around the state. Some residents who lack power should prepare for the possibility that it might not be restored until Wednesday, according to Susan Falloon, spokeswoman for Bangor Hydro-Electric.

Faloon described repairs as slow going because many of the outages were along the smaller distribution lines rather than larger transmission lines. The work was complicated by deep and heavy snow, and poor road conditions. While crews were working all day to restore power, reports of additional outages continued coming in throughout Monday because of the persistent winds, she said.

Six utility crews from Vermont were expected to arrive in Maine on Tuesday to help with repairs. Bangor Hydro was awaiting word from crews in other states and Canada on whether they could lend any workers. “We have asked for assistance from pretty much anywhere we can get it,” Faloon said.

In Down East areas served by Eastern Maine Electric Co-op of Calais, about 750 members lost power during Monday’s storm. Callers began to report outages across the area at approximately 2:30 a.m., but power had been restored to all EMEC customers by 9:30 a.m. Gov. John Baldacci declared a state of emergency extending the hours that power crews can work to restore electricity. Baldacci, who was in Washington attending a National Governors Association conference, decided to return to Maine on Monday afternoon.

Tens of thousands of homes in Vermont and New Hampshire also lost power during the storm. And Vermont authorities were forced to close northbound Interstate 89 between Waterbury and Richmond late Monday morning because of accidents, the Vermont State Police said.

“We’re having a hell of a time right now,” said Larry Dodge, a Vermont Transportation Agency dispatcher. Snow fell at a rate of 3 to 4 inches per hour in some parts of Maine on Monday, prompting hundreds of schools across the state to give children an extra day off after a weeklong winter break. The University of Maine also canceled all daytime classes and state offices opened late.

Blinding snow and gusting winds didn’t need to knock out power to cause problems in Greenville, where town officials estimated that nearly 3 feet of snow had piled up by 3 p.m. NWS meteorologists could not confirm that figure Monday evening.

“We’ve struggled but we’re getting it accomplished,” Greenville Town Manager John Simko said Monday afternoon of opening up the roads. “At one point, all three plow trucks were stuck simultaneously.” Simko said town employees had to bring in other heavy equipment to remove the trucks from the deep snow. What made matters worse, he said, was the earlier warmer temperatures last week left a buildup of ice beneath the snow and the strong winds that blew in with the storm left whiteout conditions for much of the early morning.

“It’s probably the biggest challenge of the season,” said Simko, who added that extra help was called in to assist the public works crew. “It’s a real challenge but everybody’s pitching in doing what they can.” In Milo, Tom Haley said the pile of plowed and shoveled snow outside Bailey Lumber Co. grew to 30 feet tall. Most people took the storm in stride, he said.

“It took just as long to shovel it out as the last time — and we’re still waiting for spring,” Haley said during a break from work. “We’ve had enough.” About 15 miles away in Dover-Foxcroft, the snow piled up so fast that some of the 100,000 Christmas trees grown at the Finest Kind farm disappeared from view. “The little ones are just barely peeking up through the drifts,” owner Jim LaCasce said of the 3- to 4-foot trees.

The blowing snow and slush-covered roads that the storm left behind made for treacherous driving conditions Monday. State, county and municipal police responded to dozens of accidents, though none resulted in life-threatening injury.

Among the accidents was one on Darling Road in Hudson that resulted in that road being closed from 10 a.m. until almost 5 p.m. to allow electrical workers to deal with downed power lines.

State police Trooper Douglas Franklin, who went to a string of weather-related accidents, said that while most main roads were cleared of snow, travel conditions on secondary routes remained poor. “It’s bad,” Franklin said Monday afternoon. He said more accidents were likely later in the day, as temperatures dropped and the evening commute got under way.

Emergency dispatchers in Hancock County said most of the many weather-related calls they received were about downed power lines or vehicles off the roads. The most serious incident involved a man in the town of Hancock who lost some of his fingers when he tried to clear a chunk of ice out of his snowblower. In Mount Desert, the local fire department opened up its Somesville station for a few hours for area residents who had lost their power, according to Fire Chief Mike Bender. He said a couple of firefighters opened the station up around midmorning and heated up some soup for people who needed to get warm.

But the station was closed again by 3 p.m., he said, because power had been restored and people had gone back to their homes. He said the station might be opened again Monday evening, if people come home from work and find that their lights are out.

“It takes only a couple of minutes,” for firefighters to open up the station, he said.

The weather service reported Monday evening that the storm had largely dissipated and that winds were expected to decrease overnight. Lows for early Tuesday are forecast in the single digits in northern Maine and about 20 degrees in the south, the National Weather Service said.

The Associated Press and BDN writers Kevin Miller and Dawn Gagnon in Bangor, Bill Trotter and Rich Hewitt in Ellsworth, Diana Bowley in Sangerville and Diana Graettinger in Calais contributed to this report.
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Comments
23 comments on this item
On 2/24/09 at 12:28 AM, caeser_of_penobscot wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Nature, this is your Golden Boy JC talking.

If it ever snows again

This state

is finished

I'm done with it

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On 2/24/09 at 7:04 AM, Snakebite6x6x6 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I love it, reminds me of when i was a kid...

:)

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On 2/24/09 at 7:07 AM, whitnmeme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I am loving the snow banks!! Remember when children actually played outside? I am going to put on my snow pants and do some digging in the banks..lol

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On 2/24/09 at 7:16 AM, wallyo wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Brrr It's cold down here in Florida too... All the way down to 38 degrees thi morning, Only going to get to 70 degrees today here BRRRRR!

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On 2/24/09 at 7:54 AM, Noblamegaming wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

You speaky Spanish and road rage too, wallyo?

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On 2/24/09 at 8:57 AM, kevin77 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I love how every story about snow brings out the "I-live-in-Maine-but-hate-Snow" crowd as well as the "I-used-to-live-in-Maine-but-moved-to-a-warm climate-and-must-tell-everyone-what-the-temp-is-where-I-live" crowd. Thanks for the update on the temps in FL, AZ, TX, NC, GA etc! I'll be out skiing and snowmobiling thank you very much. Come April, I'll be ready to take the Jeep and bike out of hibernation, but until then, let it snow!

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On 2/24/09 at 10:31 AM, raysgurl wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

whitnmeme wrote:

I am loving the snow banks!! Remember when children actually played outside? I am going to put on my snow pants and do some digging in the banks..lol

I have some 16 to 20 banks on driveway where snow has drifted: ALL DIGGERS WELCOME TO DIG HERE!!!

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On 2/24/09 at 10:42 AM, wallyo wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

You can get road rage in Maine when the only other car on the road is on your back bumper but doesn't want to pass because your going the speed limit.

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On 2/24/09 at 10:49 AM, drc480 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

To the BRRRRRRRRRR person, I live in Florida also, it might be snow, but its water and that is what we need here. It has not rain in 4 months now, the brush fires are starting, you only can water your lawn once a week, you folks in Maine are lucky to have the snow that turns into water so the BRRRRR person should think of that,, unless you are a snowbird. drcostain

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On 2/24/09 at 10:57 AM, SteveyDee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Not road rage when you bump the car ahead of you, its called a little love tap .....

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On 2/24/09 at 11:08 AM, hockeydad99 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

LOL at commonsense! That's funny! Anyway,

Yes, I am an ex-Maineiac in a southern latitude, but no, I won't bore you with my temperature. Let's just say I was smart enough to leave when I decided I hated the cold, and it's always a balmy 72 degrees inside my house. When the snow dumps in Maine, it reminds me of the days when I was a kid delivering your paper in it. I used to have to listen to the complaints of those ignorant customers who expected the paper at the same time, even though it has been snowing all night, and no one has done any snow removal. I always wanted to tell them where to go and couldn't, because I wanted to keep my route. Now, I can tell you whiners and complainers in Maine, the next time you want to call the BDN at 6:05 on a snow day to complain that your paper is late, why don't you put yourself in their shoes for a moment, if it is even possible to get over yourself for that long. Those people have to deliver through all that snow, and at 4 AM, it isn't touched 95% of the time. They have to deliver to all of your crazy little special spots you have picked out, and do it all by 6 AM no matter what. They make far less than minimum wage, and have to put up with crap from you and their manager. They get paid per customer, not per hour, so in order to make it worthwhile, they deliver as many papers as they can in the limited window of time they have to do it. So, those routes are designed to finish AT 6 AM in GOOD weather! When you throw a foot or two of snow in there, it's going to affect delivery time just a bit. So, get over yourself, stop being fussy, give them the extra time they need once in a while, and help your carrier deliver by clearing the snow out of their way, and be happy you are getting the paper at all! Perhaps if you get your paper at all despite 2 feet of snow, you should thank them for it. I have another question, why is it the people who whine and complain about the littlest things (like a 60 cent newspaper), have a lot of money? I seems, the more money they have, the more they b!#ch. That's another discussion for another day.

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On 2/24/09 at 11:14 AM, markko wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I would gather, hockeydad99, that you're no longer in the newspaper delivery business?

That must have been some paper route!

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On 2/24/09 at 11:17 AM, Larryt39 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

What I find kind of interesting with the way the BDN writes stories about the weather is, that seldom do they include the actual snow amounts for their own home City of Bangor. We know here in this area that Brewer/Bangor got about 12" of snow. Wouldn't you think that a priority in such weather stories, would include Bangor? It is nothing new frankly..it happens all the time..Larry T. Doughty, South Brewer..larrytdoughty@yahoo.com..www.ourstory.com/larrytdoughty/

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On 2/24/09 at 11:54 AM, ACountian wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I too delivered the BDN for several years. My route was in The County, I had the whole town and that was 42 customers. My experiences were different though, because I only remember one crab that I delivered to. She was crabby whether it was sunny, snowy or rainy. But the old lady who gave me fresh bread made up for it.

I moved from Maine to FL (West Palm Beach), certain that paradise lay at t'other end of I-95. After 5 years, I couldn't wait to leave. No hills, no clean water, no seasons. Insurance bills as big as the house payments. Standing in line for everything, no place to find solitude, the only help you can get for anything costs you money. It's a good thing it doesn't snow in FL, even if your neighbor saw you have a heart attack shoveling it, you'd better show some cash before you got help. (Not quite that bad, but not too far from the truth either.) I spent a good bit of time seeking the company of other Mainers!

Parking at the beach costs 10 bucks and up. The free spots at the State Parks are taken early, working people might as well live 100 miles inland. One more thing, when a hurricane comes, the population of FL sloshes around like water in a 1/2 full bucket. Literally hundreds of thousands of manic, short tempered people hitting the roads, most with no clue where they will end up or whether the house will be there when they come back. You end up in a town you never heard of paying 150 bucks for a room in a Motel 6. How many folks in Maine do you supposed fled ahead of this snow?

No-siree, you can't temp me south with "It's 70F in January". Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Glad some folks like it down there, it makes more room when the snow flies.

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On 2/24/09 at 12:14 PM, Beelzebubba wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Any hot babes without electricity are welcome at my house. Leave your yard apes at home.

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On 2/24/09 at 12:41 PM, MESAVALLEY wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

snakebite 666, glad to see that snow makes you happy and you are not posting hateful thoughts on here today. :)~

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On 2/24/09 at 12:56 PM, SteveyDee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Snakebites still alive?? He has been missed.

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On 2/24/09 at 1:46 PM, kevin77 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Larry, I agree with you 100%. Half the time the local TV stations don't even mention how much we got here in Bangor!

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On 2/24/09 at 7:45 PM, CeeBlue wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

ACountian --another perspective:

Moved to S.E. AZ. circa 15 years ago [brought business/employees]; 79% of AZ. is Fed/State/ I. Res = wide open spaces/Ave temps. mid 70's/ dry heat--really incredible!

People think of AZ as Phoenix / Wrong !! Cochise county = Great people [ we all moved here ] cheap land/ cheaper cost of living/no traffic/ ---

---no mosquitos/B. flies / sunshine / great fishing [trout!] best hunting on the planet/ and [ unlike ME.] hassle free; you do not need [someone's] permission to ------.

And what snow we get we LOVE - and it's gone by noon!

Regrets--yep! not leaving the Socialist State of MA. sooner -sorry - it IS still called Maine isn't it.

P.S. --- Can not wait to sell remaining property in ME. There are a few ol boys I'll miss -- but flatlanders/socialists--and women apologists run your state.

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On 2/24/09 at 8:40 PM, ACountian wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

CeeBlue, a rebuttal. Yes, most of the state of AZ is wide open (been there). And I can tell you that as a cactus aficionado, AZ and NM call to me. But, you have an out of control border on the south. Indian Res. are not hunting places for non-Indians w/o mucho $$. So far as hunting w/o permission, it doesn't happen there either unless you hunt national forest. The reason you have so much public hunting grounds is that the gov't owns it. Surely you don't suggest gov't ownership is a good thing do you? That would be Socialist! Besides, those wide open spaces within 50 miles of the towns have been stripped of much of the vegetation by cattle, cactus rustlers, or 4-wheelers. It reminded me of a clear cut in Maine, but the trees up here will cover the scars soon.

Trout fishing is good when there is water. The lakes there have been a bit low lately. No black flies, true, but Hantavirus and your mosquito borne diseases are no fun either. Then there's the matter of the 2 tourists who died from a virus in Lake Meade. Ticks also carry a host of bad bugs, and your snakes are not very friendly.

Schools are better in ME, do a Google search and you find ME is consistently in the top 1/3 and AZ is consistently in the bottom 1/3.

And I can understand why snow is so fondly recalled:115F is hot no matter how dry it is! I like AZ, but NM next door is wilder, drier and even better if you like being free.

Cochise County is growing at 10% per year. Or was until the AZ economy took to looking like Aroostook County's. Dust must be a problem with all that construction. Must be, H*LL! We weres last there 3 yrs ago and I thought I'd gag. We went through sw NM and se AZ (Belen to Tucson to Coolidge, AZ in Oct.) The light was very different, no humidity makes for crystal sunlight. But the dust was omnipresent, and it took 3 days for my wife's nosebleeds to go away (dry air again).

And that socialist gov't youall have was deciding how to ration the water from the Cen. Az Water project. Seems the gov't delivers subsidized water from the Colorado all over AZ. I guess socialism is ok if it brings me the things I want. That's good socialism. But if it brings stuff I don't need to my neighbors, that's bad socialism. I'd rather the gov't bring me good schools than gov't owned hunting places. Schools are better in ME, do a Google search and you find ME is consistently in the top 1/3 and AZ is consistently in the bottom 1/3.

There's good and bad everywhere, and if getting away from "women apologists" is high on your list, I'm glad you found it.

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On 2/24/09 at 9:01 PM, cookiecrumbles wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Snow Angels and Snow Forts !

Snowmen and snow women. Snow families and ice sculptures.

Sledding skating snowmobiling snowshoing cross country sking...........Hot cocoa the real kind.

Wet socks and hot woodstoves.

Cold freezing cold toes but still staying outside to go one more time on the sled down the hill.

Ice fishing derbies.

Red noses and the hottest stew steamin in the kitchen.

The warm memroies leave me thinking....

I will take that any day over the hot southern sun.

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On 2/24/09 at 9:31 PM, PabMainer wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

cookiecrumbs...good one...but I'll take...Sunburns & flowers and Sand in your toes, Rainbows & Snowcones and Icecream to go, Take away the cold and melt the snow, it's off to the ballpark and to the beach we go, Hotdogs and coke and volleyball games, asleep in the hammock my God I'm so lame, Ben Gay and aspirin, now I'm off to bed, crickets and frogs they linger in my head...tomorrow will be another mosquito filled day, remembering the temps of a cold winter day...I love the hot sunshine!

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On 2/25/09 at 7:19 AM, bobsiegler wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

GAS WAS 1.56.9 AT WAL MART YESTERDAY HERE IN SOUTH-WEST MISSOURI YESTERDAY, HOW'S THE PRICES IN MAINE?? (THE TAX STATE)

TEMP WAS 60 AND WE HAD ABOUT A INCH OF SNOW THIS WINTER. YES I MISS SNOWSLEDDING BUT HAVE ATV'S TO PLAY WITH HERE AND LOTS

OF TRAILS FOR THEM.

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