PARIS — The first storm of the year — a “classic nor’easter” — wreaked havoc throughout Oxford County this past weekend. Four days later, residents are still dealing with the aftermath.

Heavy, wet snow — 1 to 2 feet — blanketed the county during the slow-moving storm Friday and Saturday, with Milton Township south of Rumford hitting the jackpot at 27 inches, according to meteorologist Stephen Baron of the National Weather Service in Gray. Norway was at the low end with 12 inches.

Oxford County was the worst hit area in the state. More than half of CMP’s 42,000 customers in the county lost power at some point during the storm, Allyson Hill, director of Oxford County Emergency Management Agency, said Tuesday.

In a statement released Monday, CMP said its restoration efforts were focused in Western Maine. As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, the number of homes and businesses without power in Oxford County had dropped to 1,904. As of 6 p.m., that number had fallen to 161, with the bulk of them in Fryeburg, Lovell and Sweden.

The entire towns of Buckfield, Porter and Stoneham lost power, while more than 95% of Fryeburg’s 2,354 customers were without power.

Since Sunday morning, Central Maine Power had more than 1,700 line workers, tree workers and support staff in the field, with some from Canada, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut, CMP spokesperson Catharine Hartnett said. At the peak of the storm, more than 120,000 Maine customers had lost power

While there have been worse storms in terms of numbers, restoration has taken longer due to blocked roads and the remote access to some residences, Hartnett added.

Baron, the meteorologist, described the storm as “a classic nor’easter.” It may have caught some residents off guard since it was the first storm of the season.

“This was a lot,” EMA Director Hill said. “There hadn’t been any snow this year and we got caught up all at once.”

Oxford County Sheriff Christopher Wainwright said his deputies worked nonstop during the storm. In addition to the department’s usual calls for service, deputies dealt with several dozen accidents and slide-offs, plus numerous welfare checks for loved ones inquiring about the conditions of people they could not reach due to lack of power and cellphone service, Wainwright said.

Among the incidents the Sheriff’s Office dealt with during the storm was a plow truck that rolled onto its side in Peru and a tractor-trailer that struck a garage and porch in Woodstock, Wainwright said.

During the storm, the Oxford County Regional Communications Center in Paris was operating on backup power until Saturday afternoon, Hill said.

Even Sunday River ski area in Newry had to close briefly after it lost power.

A number of warming centers were open in several Oxford County communities Tuesday morning, including two in Fryeburg, one each in Sweden, Hartford, Lovell, Denmark and Mexico, plus Bridgton in Cumberland County. A complete list is on the Oxford County EMA Facebook page.

In Fryeburg, Town Manager Katie Haley said the town is finally seeing progress as it emerges from nights in the dark.

“Every few hours I hear more and more people have their power back on,” Haley said.

Following the storm, the Fire Department removed trees blocking roads and keeping track of areas with downed trees on power lines to assist CMP workers when they arrived to restore power.

The town contacted the Red Cross to assist a couple of families who were in a severe situation, Haley said.

As town and county officials and CMP workers finish cleaning up after the storm, another big weather maker is expected to hit the area Friday. This one will be different since the warm temperatures, which could hit 50 degrees, will initially bring lots of rain and strong wind. That will likely create more havoc with the power grid in the county.

Baron and Hill both believe that flooding could be a major issue with the rain and melting snow before temperatures plunge into the teens and freezing everything in place Saturday.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Paris Select Board appoints Troy Ripley to MSAD 17 board

Next »

Paris woman seriously injured in head-on crash in Woodstock