PORTLAND (AP) – Utility crews worked through the day Sunday to restore power to thousands of Mainers who were left in the dark after high winds and heavy rains lashed the state.

A nor’easter resulting from the remnants of Hurricane Noel moved through the Gulf of Maine on Saturday into Sunday after the storm made its way up the East Coast.

Eastern Maine took the brunt of the storm, with Bangor Hydro Electric reporting a peak of nearly 9,000 customers without power as of 7 a.m. Sunday. Most of the outages were in Hancock County.

Bangor Hydro officials said most customers would have power back by Sunday night, but that many in Hancock County would likely be without electricity until today.

Outages in the Central Maine Power Co. region peaked at a high of 5,172 at 11:30 p.m. Saturday. CMP hoped to restore service to all customers by Sunday night, a company official said.

The heaviest rains and highest winds were in eastern Maine.

Just over 5 inches of rain fell on Cutler, while Bass Harbor got 4.8 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Dennysville, Deer Isle, Acadia National Park, Eastport and East Machias all had more than 4 inches. The top winds came in at 66 mph in Cutler and 64 mph in Brooklin, the weather service said.

Northern Maine got hit with snow, with 6 inches falling in Fort Kent and 4 inches in Allagash, according to the weather service.

With trees and power lines down in eastern Maine, CMP sent crews to help Bangor Hydro crews on Sunday in power restoration efforts.

CMP said utilities in the Canadian Maritimes were also seeking assistance, and that CMP crews might be sent to Nova Scotia today.

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