(Maine) Governor to sign emergency declaration (April snowstorm, 94,600 without power)

[jpak]

http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/010675.html

AUGUSTA – Gov. John E. Baldacci will hold a press conference at 1:30 p.m. today at the Maine Emergency Management Agency at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta.

Baldacci will sign an Emergency Declaration allowing power crews from other states to come to Maine to help restore power.

Central Maine Power Co. line crews and support personnel have been assessing storm damage and repairing downed wires since before dawn. The reports of outages began rising rapidly between 3 and 4 a.m. By noon, the company estimated that more than 94,600 customers were without power.

“Tree limbs are snapping or sagging down onto the lines under the weight of the snow,” said CMP spokesman John Carroll. “We’re still assessing the damage, but southern and coastal areas have been hit the worst. We’re likely to have several days work ahead of us in some areas.”

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[jpak]

1. Update

Thousands remain without power

http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/010707.html

Thousands of customers in southern and mid-coast Maine remain without power this morning in the aftermath of the largest single outage since the ice storm of 1998.

Central Maine Power Co. restored power to an additional 20,000 overnight, but reports that 59,200 customers were still without power.

The company estimates that more than 117,000 customers were affected at the peak of the outage just after noon during Thursday’s snowstorm, which dumped more than a foot of wet snow over much of Maine.

“This is the biggest outage we’ve had since the ice storm in 1998,” said CMP spokesman John Carroll. “When you get over 60,000 you consider that a significant event and we’re down to 60,000, That gives it a sense of scale.”

The hardest hit locations remain in southern Maine, where 26,770 customers are without power in the Alfred area. The Brunswick area, including Harpswell, Jefferson and Belgrade, has 23,500 customers without power.

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[MountainLaurel]

2. I'm one of them

Typing from work at the moment. We lost power overnight Wed-Thurs. In all probability, most of the contents of the fridge are toast, and we're looking at another evening of candles and cuddling under multiple comforters.