LEWISTON — Line crews worked Thursday to repair broken poles and restored power to nearly all customers after high winds knocked out electricity to big sections of Auburn in the afternoon.
“It looks like we had a big line of storms come through with some pretty high winds,” Central Maine Power spokeswoman Gail Rice said just after 4 p.m. “Our crews are on the way there, and hopefully we can get it back up shortly.”
She had received reports of broken telephone poles in the area but didn’t have specific numbers. Rice had a preliminary count of 3,500 customers without power in Androscoggin County but said that might grow.
A little while later, CMP’s website reported 6,226 customers without power.
As of 10 p.m., a dispatcher said power had been restored for all customers in Androscoggin County but one.
The Androscoggin County Jail had been operating on generator power while service was down.
Customers in Wal-Mart reported power was out in the store in the afternoon but said Hobby Lobby and the stores surrounding it had power.
The National Weather Service in Gray said Lewiston-Auburn was experiencing 45 to 50 mph winds Thursday afternoon.
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