Many Mainers may not have power restored until Christmas

Today is Wednesday. Temperatures will be in the low 30s to low 40s from north to south, with partly to mostly sunny skies across the state. See what the weather for the rest of the day will be here.

Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.

Mainers may not have power restored until Christmas

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.

PLUS: Gov. Janet Mills declared a state of emergency in all but two of Maine’s 16 counties, emphasizing that it will take days to recover from Monday’s storm.

Mainers flock to gas stations and grocery stores after destructive storm catches many off guard

Despite the dangerous conditions and uncertainty about when power will be restored, Mainers came together to help each other during the storm and prepare for the days ahead.

PLUS: Explore images of the storm’s devastation captured by photojournalists across Maine.

Inside a Maine ski area rocked by this week’s storm

“This is devastation.”

PLUS: Several cities and towns had to evacuate some residents on Tuesday because of severe flooding, while two people remain missing near Rumford after rising flood waters washed away their vehicle.

See what Maine towns have the worst power outages

Explore this chart to see what communities got hit the hardest and where outages persist.

Maine officials were caught off guard by Monday’s powerful storm

Forecaster Mike Haggett had warned Sunday the third storm for the region in the last three weeks was “shaping up to be the most potent.”

PLUS: In the small Washington County township of Trescott, the wind gusts reached 93 mph, the highest wind speed recorded in the state in recent history.

More Maine towns are pushing back against solar farms

Opponents say the commercial solar boom in the U.S., including 7,317 installations in Maine, will produce mountains of waste from decommissioned solar models.