Portland jetport loses power for nearly 6 hours as storms cause significant damage across southern Maine
A large pine tree fell on a house on Granby Road in South Portland on Thursday afternoon as thunderstorms swept across southern Maine. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
The Portland International Jetport lost power for nearly six hours Thursday evening after a series of strong thunderstorms wreaked havoc across southern Maine in the afternoon, toppling trees and leaving thousands of residential customers without electricity.
The jetport lost power at about 3:30 p.m., and it wasn’t fully restored until shortly after 9 p.m., Assistant Airport Director Zachary Sundquist said in an email late Thursday.
The outage caused major flight delays and forced employees to do all of their tasks manually, Sundquist said.
By the time power was fully restored, 34 flights had been delayed and six had been canceled, the jetport said. Two aircraft were also damaged by hail, which mechanics were working to repair Thursday night.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of the passengers on the delayed flights,” Sundquist said in a written statement. “Our Tarmac Delay program was activated and our entire team responded to get passengers off of aircraft that could not access the terminal due to the power outage.”
Three canceled flights were expected to impact departures Friday morning, the jetport said. Passengers are encouraged to check with their airlines for flight status.
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Dozens of Central Maine Power Co. crews worked through the night into Friday morning, restoring power for more than 12,500 customers, the utility company said.
More than 10,000 CMP customers in Cumberland County were without power around 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the company’s website. Most of the outages occurred in Cape Elizabeth, South Portland and Scarborough, which saw significant storm damage.
South Portland officials said Thursday evening that police were escorting a public works loader through areas where trees had fallen, and the fire department was conducting damage surveys in neighborhoods.
The South Portland Fire Department reminded motorists not to approach or attempt to drive under or over downed wires.
In Cape Elizabeth, multiple roads were closed because of downed trees and power lines. The police department also received several reports of trees falling onto homes, according to a Thursday evening social media post.
Storms also impacted areas in central, western and northern Maine on Thursday evening.
The National Weather Service issued several severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of Androscoggin, Kennebec and Sagadahoc counties, which it said could experience wind gusts up to 60 mph and quarter-sized hail. The weather service also issued a similar warning for parts of Piscataquis County.
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Tagged: extreme weather, maine weather, National Weather Service, power outage, weather
Drew is the night reporter for the Portland Press Herald. He previously covered South Portland, Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth for the Sentry, Leader and Southern Forecaster. Though he is from Massachusetts,. More by Drew Johnson
