More than 500 customers of Central Maine Power Co. remained without power Friday morning, following Thursday afternoon’s sudden and short-lived rain and hail storm that downed trees and prompted road closures across the Portland area.
Most outages were in Cumberland County. As of 9:27 a.m. on Friday, 373 customers in Cape Elizabeth and 57 in Westbrook remained without power.
Debris remains strewn across Mitchell Road, between U.S. Route 77 and Shore Road, as well as a tree that fell on a driveway in front of a horse barn. The hum of generators could be heard.
“More than 50 crews have restored power to over 13,600 customers, or 96% of those affected by yesterday’s powerful storms,” a spokesman for CMP said in a statement emailed to Mainebiz.
Cumberland County saw significant tree damage, including in areas of South Portland, Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth.
“In some locations, we encountered multiple downed trees and broken utility poles requiring
extensive repair,” the company said.
The company noted that while Thursday’s stormed had been forecasted, weather conditions can vary significantly from community to community.
“In this case we saw significant damage in some locations, including extensive downed trees and broken utility poles,” the company said.
Judy Long, a spokeswoman for Versant Power, said that the utility did not experience any weather-related outages on Thursday.
“We really didn’t see the weather you had down south,” she said.
At the Portland International Jetport, departures and arrivals appeared to all be on schedule despite Thursday’s five-and-a–half hour outage at the facility. The jetport reported 34 flight delays and six cancellations, three of which it said will affect Friday’s departures.
The jetport lost power at 3:27 p.m. on Thursday and got it back at 9:07 p.m., according to a press release emailed Thursday evening. It noted that the thunderstorm produced large hail and caused damage to two aircraft, which mechanics were addressing.
The jetport implemented its Tarmac Delay Program and moved passengers via shuttle buses from parking positions on the de-ice pad to the terminal.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of the passengers on the delayed flights,” said Zach Sundquist, assistant airport director. “Our Tarmac Delay Program was activated and our entire team responded to get passengers off of aircraft that could not access the terminal due to the power outage.”
Passengers flying Friday are encouraged to check with their airlines for current flight status.
The storm did not affect the Portland Sea Dogs’ home game, which started on time at 6 p.m. at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field.
“We were lucky, the storm didn’t have any impact on us and the game started on time,” Chris Cameron, the team’s vice president for marketing and communications, told Mainebiz on Friday.
The Sea Dogs lost 6-2 to the Binghamton (N.Y.) Rumble Ponies and play again tonight.
