HARPSWELL

Several families in Harpswell, Phippsburg, Georgetown, Topsham, Bowdoinham, Pownal, Durham, Brunswick, and Yarmouth are out of power this morning on account of high winds Saturday and Sunday, along with an unseasonable cold snap that made the outages more uncomfortable. 

Fortunately, for most, the outages didn’t last long.  At its peak, 10,400 customers in the Brunswick service center, which runs from Yarmouth to Waldoboro, were in the dark.  Nearly all of the the customers were back up before midnight, and most of the rest had power by morning, according to Gail Rice, CMP spokeswoman.

However, some customers lost power again overnight, mostly customers in Harpswell, Phippsburg, and Georgetown.  

Customers in Bath had been bracing for a planned outage on Sunday morning.  An early press release did not specify the areas in the city that would be affected.  However, the maintenance outage only affected 37 businesses in the downtown area. 

Some of the damage affected homes.  Lisbon Fire Chief Sean Galipeau said firefighters responded to report of a tree that fell into a house on Pike Street at around 7:30 p.m. There were occupants home at the time but no injuries reported, Galipeau said. There were some wires down, so firefighters secured the area, made sure there were no hazards and secured the house itself, making sure there was no water entering the home’s electrical system. The department was responding to several reports of limbs against wires during the high winds this weekend.

Bowdoinham Fire Department also responded to report of a pole down with wires on a house on Dinsmore Cross Road in Bowdoinham Sunday at around 2 p.m.

CMP estimates that 48,500 customers throughout the state lost power at some point during the storm. Nearly 50 poles were broken when high winds toppled trees and blew limbs into power lines. Restoration has been particularly challenging in parts of Franklin, Oxford, and Somerset Counties, where storm debris closed roads and blocked access to some of the most remote areas. CMP expects to complete restoration in York County by midday, and in the Kennebec Valley by late afternoon. Most of the remaining customers should have service back by late evening. However, a few customers in areas where storm debris has blocked road access may be without service into Tuesday morning.

ghamilton@timesrecord.com