Utility crews worked Tuesday to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers in Maine and some rivers continued to rise in New England following a powerful storm that hit the northeastern U.S., drenching communities and bringing windspeeds over 60 mph in some areas.
Over 200,000 customers were still without power in Maine on Wednesday morning, two days after a deadly storm devastated the state. Some people have been told they might not have power back until after Christmas.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday urged residents to stay off the roads as much as possible and to heed any warnings from emergency officials.
“Please, do not tempt fate. Going anywhere near downed power lines can be fatal and driving through flooded roads can be very dangerous," she said.
Mills warned that restoring power will be a multi-day effort and said crews are coming from as far as Ohio to help.
Central Maine Power, the state's largest utility, said they continue to make progress in their efforts to restore power to all customers, with 117,000 homes, about 29% of those affected, restored on Tuesday.
"We have more than 2,000 people including 1,400 line and tree crews on the job now with more arriving tomorrow, working 24x7 until power is restored to all of our customers," the power company said in a message on its website Tuesday.
Emergency officials warn that the damage is so widespread not every location will be clearly marked with signage, so the public should use extreme caution while traveling. They are coordinating with local departments and trying to prioritize assessing the most dangerous or significant locations of damage.
Teresa Beaudoin, the principal at Farrington Elementary School in Augusta, is one of the many people still without electricity. She's using a generator to power her refrigerator and a couple of lights.
"I was shocked," she said. "It hasn't been this bad for a long time. We were just discussing that this reminds me of 1980."
Beaudoin said she has no idea when area schools will reopen.
Three people have now died in Maine as a result of the storm. In Windham, police said part of a tree fell and killed 40-year-old Troy Olson, who was removing debris from his roof. And in Fairfield, 77-year-old William Tanner was fatally injured while removing a downed tree with a tractor. And a Mexico town official told News Center Maine that one of two people who were missing after their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters on Monday evening had been found dead. The second person remains missing.
"We'll see if people are starting to get their power back," she said. "This looks like a big storm, so I guess the question will be how many people will get their power restored."
State of emergency declared
Maine Gov. Janet Mills declared a civil state of emergency for most of the state, noting the storm had “left hundreds of thousands of people without power" and "caused significant flooding and infrastructure damage, including to the state’s federal-aid highways.”
“Flooding continues to be a serious risk in many areas of the state. I cannot stress this enough - if you live in an area that is hard hit, please stay off the roads as much as possible and stay away from flooded areas, including flooded roadways,” Mills said Wednesday.
State offices were set to reopen in Cumberland and York counties on Wednesday morning, but will remain closed in Maine's 14 other counties.
Mills said she would seek federal emergency assistance to help in the recovery efforts from both FEMA and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The assessment of the damage is already underway, but it will be a long process. She will also seek a waiver to allow fuel delivery drivers to work longer hours as needed to make sure heating fuel makes it to where it is needed.
Those in need of food or water can contact 211 to find relief at county emergency response locations or through groups like the American Red Cross. SNAP beneficiaries should look out for information on aid to replace food that was lost during power outages or flooding.
River flooding concerns persist
Some rivers in the region crested. The Androscoggin River in Rumford, Maine, reached a maximum stage of 22 feet in a 24-hour period ending early Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. Flood stage is 15 feet. The river was expected to fall below flood stage Wednesday morning.
The Kennebec River at Augusta was expected to reach a crest of 25 feet Tuesday evening, the weather service said. Flood stage is 12 feet.
Officials in Lewiston and Auburn issued flood evacuations as a result of these forecasts, along with neighborhoods in Fairfield and Waterville. A free overnight shelter was established in Lewiston for those in need of a place to stay.
In the town of Mexico, along the Swift River, police continue to search for two people after their car tried to turn around while crossing a bridge and got swept into the rising floodwaters. Two other occupants of the car were rescued and were treated for hypothermia.
Hallowell, Maine, just south of the state capital of Augusta, was especially hard hit by flooding, with the Kennebec River spilling over its banks.
"With a lot of the Water Street businesses, their floors are going to be in water up to three feet," said George Lapointe, Hallowell's mayor. "All the sheetrock will be ruined, all the electricity will be ruined, and so the rebuild is going to take a long time."
Holiday plans upended
Just feet from the river, the Frost Factory cannabis store usually offers a picturesque view from outside their back door. Now, they're struggling to stay afloat.
"Who knows what damage is in the basement now, but everyone will experience the same damage I'm sure," business owner Clint Gould said.
Nathan Sennett, a cook at the Quarry Tap Room in town, was wading through hip-deep water after the weather upended planning for holiday-related business.
“We were supposed to have a couple of parties today and tomorrow, and just kind of sporadically throughout the weekend,” he said. “But obviously, we’ve had to cancel those.”
The arrival of the storm just before Christmas complicated - and in some cases threatened to cancel - holiday plans for many New Englanders. In South Berwick, Jessica Hyland was relieved when her power finally snapped back on Wednesday morning.
“I was on my way to mild to moderate hysteria,” she said. “We don’t even have a tree.”
The storms also disrupted the winter skiing season in northern New England. Sugarloaf in Maine, one of the most popular resorts in the area, said it hoped to reopen Thursday.
“We’ve suffered some damage to roads and infrastructure on mountain and around campus and will take (Wednesday) to reassess for resuming daily operations,” representatives for Sugarloaf said via social media.
More than 6 inches of rain fell in parts of Maine, according to the National Weather Service.
In Portland, a 60-foot white pine tree came crashing down at the home of Ellen Briggs, who was away at the time. Her neighbor, Nate Woodin, said he heard the collapse while wrapping Christmas gifts and it sounded like “a lightning crash.”
Pete Chagnon, 75, in Oxford, Maine, helped a couple of people remove a tree blocking a road, one of many that had fallen in his neighborhood.
“Since moving here (in 2015), I have seen some wicked storms, but yesterday took the cake,” said Chagnon, who lost power but had a generator.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
