After the first storm of the season, thousands of Mainers remain without power Sunday.

Dec. 18—Tens of thousands of homes are still without power Sunday following the nor’easter that hit Maine on Friday and continued into Saturday.

CMP spokeswoman Catharine hartnett stated that the first winter storm knocked out power to 122,000 CMP customers. However, 72,000 residents saw their power restored after the storm.

According to CMP’s outage report, nearly half of Central Maine Power customers in Oxford County are still without power. According to CMP’s outage list, 19.534 Oxford County customers are still without power as of Sunday morning. Stoneham was one of the smaller towns that was affected. The entire town of 360 customers was also affected.

CMP reports that 51,551 households across the state were without electricity on Sunday morning.

Sunday’s major outages were in the following counties: Androscoggin 7,721; Cumberland 8,260; Kennebec 5,733 and York 3,501.

According to Versant Power’s website in northern Maine, there were 10,401 Versant Power customers who didn’t have electricity.

CMP is working hard to restore power, and is making good progress. However, conditions are difficult. The heavy, wet snow “loaded up trees.” Hartnett said that many trees have fallen and taken away power.

Heavy snow is still being cleared by road crews. However, Kerri Therriault (senior director of electric operations) stated in a prepared statement that “we are now able to move faster today to investigate any remaining system damage and communicate restoration estimates with customers.”

CMP’s website has shown that certain areas of Norway, Fryeburg and other areas will get power by 10 p.m. on Sunday night. However, areas in Oxford County still need to be assessed.

Therriault says that CMP is currently working with Therriault to estimate when customers will get power.

CMP stated Saturday that it could take up to late Monday or early Tuesday before power is restored for all.

CMP had over 1,500 tree and line workers in the region on Sunday, with 600 additional workers arriving Saturday night to assist. Hartnett stated that the 1,500 workers are nearly three times the average workforce. Hartnett stated that CMP prioritizes schools and critical facilities to ensure they have power.

CMP recommends that residents who are experiencing an extended power outage keep their refrigerator and freezer doors shut to preserve food. They should only be opened when absolutely necessary. Winter temperatures are a good time to store food in a shed, garage or other storage area.

Wrap water pipes with newspaper or insulation to prevent freezing during extended outages

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