ELLSWORTH, Maine — The Down East took the brunt of the heavy winds that buffeted Maine during the day Friday.
Gusting winds blew down trees and branches, taking out power and phone lines and causing interruptions to service throughout the day. At least three schools were forced to close early on Friday because of power outages caused by the storm — Hancock Elementary School, Pemetic Elementary School in Southwest Harbor and Hope Elementary School.
At the height of the storm, Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. reported almost 8,000 customers without power. Of those, 6,076 were in Hancock County and 1,041 were in Washington County.
By 5 p.m., though crews had restored power to all but 1,600 customers in Hancock County, there was a total of 5,422 accounts still without service, including about 2,700 in Washington County, according to Bangor Hydro spokeswoman Susan Faloon.
“It looks like there will be some customers in some towns that will not have power restored tonight,” Faloon said.
Central Maine Power reported more than 20,000 customers without power at the storm’s peak, mostly in the coastal counties of Cumberland, Lincoln, Knox and Waldo. By late afternoon, 8,670 customers still had no service.
Friday’s storm was typical for this time of year, according to Victor Nouhan, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Caribou.
Wind gusts Friday generally reached between 45 mph and 50 mph in the interior part of Maine including Bangor, Nouhan said. Along the coast, gusts reached 55 to 60 mph.
Rainfall also was heavier along the coast, according to Nouhan, and there were some locally heavy rainfall totals in Hancock County, Nouhan said. Most areas received 1 to 2 inches of rain, but in areas of Hancock County rainfall totals ranged between 2 and 3½ inches, he said.
Parts of York and Cumberland counties also received 2½ to 3½ inches of rain.
In Acadia National Park, gusts were in the “mid-50s” on top of Cadillac Mountain, according to dispatchers, and in Southwest Harbor, an unofficial weather station recorded a gust of 61 mph, dispatchers said.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported a number of instances along the coast where high winds caused boats to drag their moorings. In some cases there were people on board, but they were not in danger, according to Coast Guard reports.
Windy conditions are expected over southern New England into Saturday as the coastal storm lingers off the Maine and New Hampshire coasts.
The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory Friday afternoon into Saturday morning for much of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Gusts could reach 50 mph.
Showers were expected to continue into early Saturday.
Damage from the storm was widespread throughout Hancock County, according to Faloon, making it difficult for crews to restore power to the large number of customers.
“There was no large, major problem that affected one circuit,” she said. “The damage was scattered all around the area. That’s what we’re facing now.”
By late Friday afternoon, much of the winds had died down in Hancock County, but Faloon said high winds persisted in the northern part of Bangor Hydro’s service area and damage to lines still was occurring in that area.
Although crews continued to work into the night, Faloon said customers in the following areas, including in Washington and Penobscot counties, likely would remain without power overnight: Surry, Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville, Sedgwick, Deer Isle, Stonington, Tremont, Southwest Harbor, Seal Cove, Somesville, Otis, Mariaville, Mattawamkeag, Lee, Medway, East Millinocket, Enfield, Milo, Sebec, Lubec, East Machias, Whiting, Pembroke, Perry, Milbridge, Cherryfield, Gouldsboro and Harrington.
Police and fire departments along the coast were kept busy throughout the day as they received reports of trees on wires. Utility crews were out in force in an attempt to restore power. In Blue Hill, a large branch broke from a tree on the Blue Hill Town Hall grounds early Friday morning and pulled down the power line to the building. Power was still out at midday and the town hall staff relied on a generator to keep the lights on.
The only flooding reported in Hancock and Washington counties was at Seawall in Southwest Harbor where beavers had blocked a culvert. Crews from the Maine Department of Transportation were working on the problem early Friday afternoon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.