© Shawn Patrick OuelletteAn ambulance crew checks on a vehicle off the road on the northbound side of the Maine Turnpike in Saco during Thursday's snowfall.
Central Maine Power reported around 200,000 customers without power in its service area at 9:30 a.m Friday, down from a peak of more than 204,000 earlier in the morning.
Customers in areas hardest hit by strong wind gusts and heavier-than-expected snow should expect to be without power for more than a day and restoration times may not be immediately available as crews wait for safer road conditions, a CMP spokeswoman said Friday morning.
The disruptions come as Mainers are homebound because of the coronavirus and relying on home computers and Internet service.
"We understand that people are working and learning from home and we will work constantly and safely to restore their power," CMP spokeswoman Catharine Hartnett said "We are practicing social distancing in the field to protect our employees and contractors- this means travelling to work sites in several vehicles and always being aware of proximity to others in the field. This takes a little more thought and care than in 'normal' times while in the field."
Hartnett said the utility company is working with local emergency management officials "to ensure we understand local priorities for clearing roads of downed wires and trees."
"With the pandemic, we must prioritize access to hospitals and medical facilities as well as food distribution sites," she said. "Of course restoring power to these facilities is also a priority and all hospitals in our service areas currently have power."
The outages reported by CMP were spread across 14 counties, with Androscoggin, Kennebec, Somersetand Waldo reporting the highest number of customers without power. There were about 12,500 outages reported in Cumberland County at 9:30 a.m. and only 147 in York County.
Emera Maine, which provides electricity to northern and eastern Maine, reported 64,302 outages at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
"We fully expected this," said CMP spokeswoman Catharine Hartnett. "We've been talking to customers for two days about preparing for this storm."
Hartnett said 100 CMP crews and another 130 contractor crews will be working Friday to restore power. Under guidelines established to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, crews are working one person per vehicle and maintaining a six-foot physical distance.
"One thing that we've asked," Hartnett said," is that with people at home, sometimes they will approach the crews and get a little too close. That's never good. Please respect the safety of all our crews."
Last month, crews using physical-distancing protocol restored 50,000 outages in a 24-hour period, Hartnett said.
Downed power lines have closed roads in towns across Maine. In North Yarmouth, power lines are down in the intersection of Pea Lane and Cumberland Road. Pea Lane is closed to traffic, according to North Yarmouth Fire Rescue.
Auburn Police say Lake Street between Hotel Road and Colonial Way is closed because downed utility lines have made the road impassable.
Hartnett said many roads in the Dover, Skowhegan and Farmington areas have not yet been plowed.
"As we continue to assess and clear damage we will not be providing specific restoration times for some time today- it is most important that areas are safe," she said. "Customers will be able to check the outage pages on the website for these updates but should be prepared not to see specifics for some time."
Gov. Janet Mills announced Friday morning that state government would be closed Friday because of "hazardous" driving conditions and widespread outages.
"With heavy, wet snow causing dangerous driving conditions and power outages, I am closing state government offices," Mills said in a statement. "I thank all Maine people for rising to the new challenge of a spring snowstorm in the middle of a pandemic by staying at home and traveling only when absolutely necessary so our first responders and road crews can work safely."
The National Weather Service in Gray reported snow totals at 10:50 p.m. Thursday had already reached 7.8 inches in Auburn, 5.5 inches in Freeport, 5 inches in New Gloucester and 3 inches at the Portland International Jetport. Less than two inches were reported Thursday night in York County.
Updated snow totals were not available from the Gray office Friday morning.
The highest snow totals were reported in Piscataquis County, where 21 inches fell in East Blanchard and Wellington recorded 20 inches by 8:30 a.m. Friday. In Penobscot County, 18 inches of snow was reported in Carmel, while 16 inches of snow fell in Ashland in Aroostook County, according to the National Weather Service office in Caribou.
Snow totals were expected to range from 2 to 6 inches from northern York County along the coast through Portland, and climb to 8 inches near Windham and Gray. Higher amounts were expected farther inland, with more than a foot in the western mountains, according to meteorologist Derek Schroeter of the National Weather Service in Gray.
"We're not expecting any warmup or any change back to rain with this," Schroeter said early Thursday evening, "so what does fall in the next four to six hours should stay there overnight."
Historically, April snowstorms are not unusual, although the last time Portland received at least 6 inches this late in the month was 1974, when 6.4 inches fell on April 9.
Schroeter also said he received reports of more than a dozen lightning strikes along with snow thunder.
A harried state police dispatcher said Thursday evening that the storm led to hundreds of motor-vehicle accidents, but state police spokesman Steve McCausland said he had not heard of any serious problems. There were reports of overturned vehicles in Poland, Oxford and Sabattus, with the latter being a town plow truck.
By late Thursday afternoon, state police had reduced the speed limit on the Maine Turnpike to 45 mph.
Sources: Portland Press Herald and Press Herald
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