Maine Braces for Another Friday Storm As it Cleans Up From the Last One

Maine is beginning a week that is expected to be book-ended by storms.

On Monday, the state was still feeling the impacts of a nor’easter that arrived on Friday, dumping two feet or more of snow on some communities.

The weekend full of slush and heavy, wet flakes resulted in at least 183 car crashes, according to the Maine State Police.

It also left tens of thousands of people without power at times, with winter storm warnings still in effect on Monday morning in northern areas of Maine.

“We have the most damage within our northern Penobscot County region,” said Tina Morrill, a communications specialist for Versant Power, the utility that provides electricity for Bangor and many northern and eastern Maine customers.

During a Monday afternoon interview with NECN/NBC 10 Boston, Morrill estimated that 30 line crews were working in areas like one near Lincoln, where branches had slumped sideways under the snow’s weight.

“Our intention is to have everyone restored today by 4:00 p.m.,” she said, noting that Versant had recorded more than 10,000 customers who lost power over the course of the storm.

Meanwhile, in its coverage area, Central Maine Power also had repair crews working to complete fixes on Monday.

“Our goal right now is to get everybody back on by the end of the day,” said Adam Desrosiers, vice president of electric operations for Central Maine Power.

Desrosiers added that some places around the western Maine mountains near Rumford and Rangeley have been hampered from getting power back because they received so much snow.

“Even as the temperatures have warmed and the snow has unloaded off the tree limbs, it’s caused additional outages,” he said.

Both Morrill and Desrosiers were hopeful that crews at both companies could complete fixes to then focus on preparing for high wind expected later this week.

Central Maine Power was planning for its crews to complete a system inspection ahead of that next storm after they completed fixes on Monday.

Morrill said that Versant had a team that was “already planning ahead and watching the weather.”

“We always encourage and remind people to please stay clear of downed power lines and even a tree that’s in contact with one, just please don’t go near it,” she said.