AUGUSTA (AP) – After 48 hours, Gov. John Baldacci proclaimed an end to the state of emergency he declared in the aftermath of Wednesday’s powerful wind-and-rain storm.

State officials said the declaration did the state some good and carried no cost.

To aid power restoration efforts in Maine, 25 crews came in from other states and provinces to assist Central Maine Power and 10 crews came in for Bangor Hydro.

Officials say that past experience in large-scale power outages in other states has shown that when trucks moved across state lines to respond to requests for aid, they faced a possibility of being stopped because they had violated federal Department of Transportation rules governing driver times or weight and other regulations.

Maine officials say a protocol was developed with the federal DOT under which such regulations could be suspended if a state of emergency were in place. With that in mind, the state of emergency was declared in Maine at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. It was lifted at 4 p.m. on Friday.

In last week’s case, no other activation of emergency powers was needed.

Utility crews remained at work at the beginning of the weekend, trying to restore power for the last few thousands of customers still in the dark.

State officials said that at the height of the storm’s effects, more than 90,000 “meters” – equating to roughly 225,000 people – were out of power.

That is almost 20 percent of the state’s population.

Officials said no state-level financial disaster assistance could have been released by the declaration of a state of emergency – the state has no disaster assistance program of its own – and any request by the governor for federal assistance would require separate action.

The state declaration cited “severe” weather conditions that could “threaten public health and endanger public property.”

CMP spokesman John Carroll said storm-related damage included 75 broken utility poles and was the worst the utility had seen since the ice storms of January 1998.

AP-ES-10-19-03 1349EDT