FORT KENT, Maine — A thunderstorm with wind gusts of up to 50 mph blew through the St. John Valley on Monday night, toppling trees from Fort Kent to Van Buren, knocking out power to several homes and damaging property.
Multiple trees fell on one home on North Perley Brook Road in Fort Kent early Monday evening as the severe weather swept through the region. No one was injured.
A tree fell on a car parked at the Lakeview Campground in St. Agatha, breaking the rear window and causing roof damage. In Madawaska, a toppled tree took down a power line to a home and damaged a truck parked in the driveway. No one was injured in those cases, either.
Speaking from the scene in Madawaska on Monday night, Fire Chief Jim Soucy said Emera Maine crews were extremely busy dealing with downed lines throughout northern Aroostook County and that he was waiting for linemen to arrive there to secure the power line before trying to clear the tree off the truck.
More than 400 Emera Maine customers lost power during the storm, with the towns of Eagle Lake, New Canada and Wallagrass being hardest hit by power outages, according to information posted on the company’s website Monday night. Customers in Madawaska and Frenchville also experienced interruptions in service.
Staff at the National Weather Service Caribou office described the winds as “strong, not severe,” and said that in order for wind gusts to be officially classified as severe they need to reach speeds of 60 mph.
Fort Kent Town Manager Donald Guimond said Tuesday that public works employees would be working throughout the day to remove fallen trees in the town, including on Market Street and on the trail behind the Fort Kent District Courthouse.
“There are trees down here and there, so there is cleaning up to take place, yes,” he said.
Rainfall totals in most of northern Aroostook only reached a half-inch during the storm but measured up to just over an inch about 15 to 20 miles southwest of Madawaska, according to the weather service.
The storm primarily hit the St. John Valley, while locations farther south of of Caribou experienced some wind gusts and rain.