A Christmas Day wind and rain storm brought minimal if any damage to most parts of Maine, with almost all power outages across the state restored by Saturday evening and only minor reports of flooding.
As of 6:54 p.m. there was only one Central Maine Power customer without electricity. Versant Power, which serves customers in northern and eastern Maine, was reporting 338 outages, including 97 in Deer Isle.
The Christmas Day storm was forecast to bring gusty winds of up to 60 mph and a high risk of electricity outages. While many parts of the state saw 1 to 2 inches of rain, the extreme winds didn’t materialize and topped out at gusts of 40 to 50 mph. The National Weather Service in Gray was predicting that warm temperatures could create snow melt that would combine with the rain to produce flooding Saturday, but no reports of major flooding materialized.
Flood warnings remained in effect, however, for the Androscoggin River in Auburn and for the Kennebec River in Hallowell, Augusta, North Sidney and Skowhegan and were expected to remain in place through Saturday evening.
The Kennebec peaked at about 15 1/2 feet Saturday in the Augusta area, more than 3 feet above flood stage, but the impact of flooding appeared to be largely limited, the Kennebec Journal reported.
Maura Casey, a meteorologist in Gray, said the Presumpscot River in Westbrook reached a height of 15.3 feet Friday night, but that would only be considered enough water to create minor flooding.
“We didn’t get quite as strong of winds as we were expecting,” Casey said. “It’s a good thing as far as impacts go. We did get the rain, but I’m happy to report we didn’t get inundated with water rescues or any damage. If there are a few low-lying spots left with water in them, don’t drive through it.”
Temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s or high teens overnight Saturday, and Casey cautioned motorists to be aware of ice forming on roadways. “If there is any remaining standing water, that is going to freeze up tonight so people should just be mindful of those slick spots,” she said.
Art Cleaves, emergency management director for York County, said Saturday the agency had not received any reports of storm damage or flooding in any of the county’s 29 communities.
“We haven’t heard a single report from any of the towns about flooding or any damage along the coast at all down here,” Cleaves said. “We just didn’t seem to get anything of any significance.”
Matthew Mahar, Cumberland County emergency management director, also said he had not received any reports of damage or flooding Saturday. “The storm came in like a hurricane and moved through quickly,” Mahar said. “We lucked out that we didn’t have bigger issues.”
December 27, 2020 at 03:29AM
https://www.pressherald.com/2020/12/26/christmas-day-wind-and-rain-storm-brings-little-to-no-damage/
Christmas Day wind and rain storm brings little to no damage - Press Herald
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