Katrina’s remnants lash Maine, cut power

The remnants of Hurricane Katrina swirled across Maine on Wednesday with heavy rain and winds gusting up to 40 mph, knocking down tree limbs and leaving thousands of residents without electricity.

Central Maine Power reported 3,400 customers without power Wednesday evening. Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. had 2,000 customers in the dark.

“What’s left of Katrina is pushing through,” CMP representative Kevin Howes said.

Howes said CMP customers began reporting the outages around 2 p.m., with the majority of complaints coming from the Fairfield area, where nearly 1,200 customers were left without electricity.

“Our crews are working hard, and our goal is to get the power back as soon as we can,” Howes said.

Bangor Hydro customer service manager Janice Piper said the majority of outages were in Penobscot County, with parts of Bangor and surrounding communities without power.

Piper said four crews from the Bangor division were out working to restore electricity.

National Weather Service meteorologist Sonia Mark expected steady rain and scattered thunderstorms to sweep through parts of Maine as Katrina left her final mark before a cold front takes over this morning.

Rainfall totals are expected to reach 2 1/2 inches in some areas by today.

A wind advisory is also in effect until 6 a.m. today, with winds expected to gust around 50 mph.