Marathon efforts to restore power to more than half a million Maine customers who lost it as a result of an Oct. 30 windstorm neared an end Sunday night.
Central Maine Power, the utility company that serves customers in southern and western Maine, reported that, as of 6 p.m. Monday, electricity had been restored to all but roughly 7,100 of its nearly 470,000 customers who lost power. That figure had dipped to about 5,000 before rising again with a spike in Cumberland County outages.
Many of the properties without power were on peninsulas or were seasonal residences unlikely to be occupied at this time of year, a CMP spokeswoman wrote in a release.
At 6 p.m. Monday, the Emera Maine website showed 249 customers remained without power, though some of those outages might not be directly related to the Oct. 30 storm.
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Crews continued to work Sunday night into Monday to restore power, often bringing electricity back to one customer at a time. Cumberland County, with 3,500 outages, and Lincoln County, with about 1,400 customers without power, remained the hardest hit areas.
“We are concentrating our line crews and tree crews in the remaining communities with outages,” Sara Burns, president and CEO of Central Maine Power, said in a release Sunday. “Our crews are cutting their way down narrow roads and driveways to get back one customer at a time, but we will stay on the job until everyone is back online.”
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CMP does not yet have an estimate of the cost to repair the storm damage but anticipates calculating one later this week.
The Maine Emergency Management Agency on Friday encouraged Mainers to document damage from the storm and to report them by calling 211.
The information will be used to help towns and cities determine where storm-related damage occurred. Residents also should document the damage, the cost of damaged or spoiled items and keep receipts for repairs in order to file insurance claims.
Those who cannot afford to fix damage can contact their community’s general assistance office.
Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits may be able to obtain vouchers to replace lost food by calling 855-797-4357. Farmers who experienced losses and need assistance can call the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency at 207-990-9140.
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