The driving rainstorm that started October 29th and continued through the night, knocked out power to 72% of CMP’s customers in Gorham. While many people were reconnected to the power grid the following day, others had to wait for a week or more to have their power restored. This storm caused more power outages throughout the state than any previous storm in the state’s history with almost 500,000 residences without power. Two thousand lineman and tree workers, including crews from 14 states and three Canadian provinces, came to Maine to help with the restoration, joining 3,300 CMP workers.
The storm took out more than 1400 poles (.2% of all CMP poles). CMP is in the process of installing thicker and more durable poles in parts of Maine which are more likely to be impacted by a major storm. While CMP has $10 million in a reserve fund for storm recovery, customers may potentially see an additional charge of $1.61 in their monthly bills next year to cover CMP’s additional costs. There were also significant costs to the Town in overtime, equipment, and fuel, as well as a delay in the rest of their work.
Photos courtesy of Gorham Police Dept.Goodall Road and Middle Jam Road were both closed for an extended time due to downed trees and wires.
When there is a power outage, CMP’s first priority is safety. The company secures downed lines, making sure they are not still live, and clears roadways for emergency access. The priority in power restoration goes to Public Safety buildings, hospitals, nursing homes, dispatch, gas stations (so that people can get gas for their generators) and grocery stores.
While some were frustrated with the length of time it took for their power to be restored, a number of factors influenced this process. CMP’s first goal is to reopen roads (blocked by wires) and to make things safe. Lucas Tree was hired to take down trees on wires in Gorham and was assigned to specific CMP crews. Public Works and the Fire Department also helped to cut back trees as long as live wires were not involved. One of the frustrations for the Town in the aftermath of the storm was that in some instances, people removed barricades from roads that were blocked off as unsafe and threw them in to ditches, thereby jeopardizing other people who were using those roads.
“The safety of people working for CMP, Lucas Tree and Public Safety is paramount,” said Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre who also reminded residents that they should never touch downed lines. CMP grounds power lines before work begins so no power goes through those lines.
The high winds associated with this storm caused considerable damage but only a few poles snapped in town. In the ice storm of 1998, over 100 poles were snapped although fewer people lost power in that storm.
Public Works will be accepting storm damaged debris and will be doing roadside cleanup from the storm. For more information, please contact 892-9062.