Restoration efforts are underway after the storm knocked out power to thousands of Mainers

Thousands of Mainers are in the dark after heavy rain and high winds hit the state Wednesday night.

Central Maine Power reporting over 23,000 outcomes. The majority are in Waldo and Kennebec counties. Versant Power reports over 59,000 outages.

Winds were a challenge to recovery efforts overnight as power crews couldn’t get up in bucket trucks with winds over 30 miles per hour. Fortunately, the wind has subsided on Thursday morning.

CMP has crews staged around the state equipped with “storm kits” full of fuses, wiring and field equipment to repair damaged lines.

Localized flooding is still possible in some areas Thursday, especially in western Maine. If there is river flooding, it will be less.

Sun welcomes back on Thursday. Any remaining wet surfaces on the main roads should dry up thanks to a stiff westerly wind.

Calm weather will continue through the end of the week and into the weekend. Our next chance for rain or snow will be next week.