High winds whip state, knocking out power

Crews from Bangor Hydro-Electric Co, and Central Maine Power were still working Friday evening to restore electricity to many of the 40,000 customers who lost power because of high winds the previous 24 hours.

A few schools in the hard-hit Glenburn, Jackman and LaGrange areas were forced to close for the day Friday as they were still without power.

Bangor Hydro had scattered outages in Penobscot, Hancock, Piscataquis and Washington counties, with an estimated 500 customers still without power as of 4:30 p.m.

Central Maine Power had a larger number of outages, with an estimated 16,667 customers still without power at 9 p.m. after crews had restored about 23,000 of the nearly 40,000 customers who were without service in the morning. The western mountains, including the Skowhegan and Farmington areas, were among the hardest hit by the strong, gusty winds of up to 40 mph throughout CMP’s 11,000-square-mile service area.

Customers in Farmington, Skowhegan, Dover-Foxcroft and Bridgton were expected to be without service into Saturday.

Northern Maine was still under a high-wind warning, with a wind advisory in effect for much of the rest of the state throughout the day Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Firefighters and Central Maine Power crews were called throughout the day to extinguish fires caused by downed tree limbs on power lines. Tom Harvey, a dispatcher at the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department, said the department received many calls reporting power outages and downed lines.

Check www.cmpco.com and www.bhe.com for updates on outages.