Howling storm knocks out power and downs trees

Howling winds and driving rain sent a tree crashing into the side of 60 Tall Pines in Lewiston where a 6-month-old baby was sleeping in her crib Monday evening. The child is reportedly doing well.

The powerful storm rolling through Maine brought down trees, power lines and flattened stop signs around Lewiston-Auburn.

As of 6:25 a.m. Tuesday, a total of 86,546 Central Maine Power customers were without electrical service. Of those, 3,170 were in Androscoggin County, 231 were in Franklin County and 25,891 were in Cumberland County.

In Lewiston, a tree fell on a parked car and falling trees knocked down power lines on East Avenue. A report of a branch hanging a wire and causing sparking at Simard Avenue forced a homeowner to shut off power to the house.

There were reports of wires down in Sabattus.

Across Maine, heavy rain and wind gusts close to 60 mph caused more than 100,000 power outages. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses across the state lost power Monday night. There were multiple reports of trees falling into roads in Lisbon, Durham, Bath, Woolwich and Bar Harbor, among other places.

The number of power outages rose steadily as the night went on. More than 88,000 Central Maine Power Company customers were without power at 12:39 a.m. Tuesday, with York and Cumberland counties hit hardest, particularly along the coast. Cumberland County had more than 30,000 outages. In York County, 13,383 CMP customers were without power.

Versant Power, which serves northern and Down East Maine, was reporting 13,721 outages shortly after midnight, including nearly 4,000 in Brewer alone.

Rainfall amounts were expected to vary widely, with most coastal regions getting between 2 and 3 inches. Some areas, especially in Down East Maine, were expected to get as much as 4 inches.

Portland Press Herald Staff Writer Dennis Hoey contributed to this report.