About 1,800 people were working Wednesday on storm recovery to complete Central Maine Power’s goal of restoring power to nearly all of its customers by Saturday. 

The recent storm that brought heavy rains and strong winds Sunday night into Monday morning caused the highest number of power outages in Central Maine Power’s 118 year history, exceeding numbers from a 1998 ice storm.

At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, 26,741 of York County’s 119,844 CMP customers were out of power. Statewide there were 192,949 customers out of power Wednesday afternoon, down from the peak of 404,000 midday Monday.

CMP reached out for assistance from outside crews from states that that included Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia.

CMP expects to have service restored to the majority of customers by late Saturday, according to a press release from the power company.  The only exceptions could be homes on remote camp lines and in areas where flooding or downed trees prevent access.

“Our crews are working as quickly and safely as possible, and we ask people to refrain from approaching them with questions that can slow their work and create safety concerns,” said CMP spokesperson Gail Rice in a written statement. “We encourage customers to go to our website for restoration updates, and let our crews focus on safety as they go about their tasks.”

Throughout York County, municipal agencies, schools and fire departments were opening their doors to help those still out of power, especially those in rural areas who did not have water.

Schools such as Massabesic Middle School and Wells Elementary School scheduled hours for people to take a shower, and in Dayton, town officials were opening the municipal building in the evening for people to warm up and charge cell phones. 

Several fire departments were welcoming people to come down to their local fire station and fill water jugs.

In Saco, the city invited people to use the restrooms or charge electronic devices at the train station during its hours of operation, and a public water spigot was turned on at  Route 112 across the street from the Way Way Store. 

For updates on power outages, go to  www.cmpco.com/outages/outageinformation.html.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.