MIDCOAST — Schools, town offices, roads, and even Bath Iron Works facilities were closed Monday morning after a powerful storm knocked down hundreds of trees and left over 370,000 without power.

Multiple counties were hit hard by high winds, which gusted at speeds of over 50 mph. One gust, registered at 69 mph, was recorded in Portland at around 6 a.m.

South Bristol reported one of the highest gusts in the state, with a gust of 71 mph.

The high winds and outages led to multiple school closings, including MSAD 75 (Topsham, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Harpswell), Brunswick, RSU 1 (Bath, Arrowsic, Woolwich, Phippsburg), and RSU 5 (Durham, Freeport, Pownal).

The storm also led to governmental closings, with the City of Bath closing its offices, and Freeport and Brunswick opening later in the day. Bath Iron Works, too, closed all facilities for first shift Monday morning.

Central Maine Power reported extensive power outages Monday morning. Of 26,934 customers served in Lincoln County, 23,648 – or over 87 percent – were reportedly without power at 11 a.m. In Sagadahoc County, 17,901 were without power out of 21,192 Central Maine Power customers, or almost 85 percent.

Central Maine Power reported that those without power may not see it restored for several days.

“Our priority today is to make downed lines safe. Crews will de-energize downed lines, and then move on to the next set of downed lines. This must be done before restoration can begin,” stated Central Maine Power in a news release.

“Because so many downed lines need to be made safe, we do not expect to do much restoration today except for lines that serve critical facilities such as hospitals.”

Multiple police departments were urging people to stay off the roadways if possible, and to not drive around any barricades marking live wires. Sagadahoc County Emergency Management Agency was also asking people on the roadways to avoid driving in open water.

The National Weather Service in Gray is also reporting severe flash flood watch, remaining in effect until 2 p.m. Flooding of multiple rivers is likely. The Kennebec River is expected to flood either today or Tuesday.