High Winds Causing Morning Power Outages

High winds this morning are causing many Mainers to wake up without electricity.

As I was getting up this morning, it sounded outside my window like the calendar had turned back to January, with the wind howling around the corner of the house. And when I got to work, it took two hands to pull the building's door closed, as the wind grabbed it and wouldn't let go.The National Weather Service reports wind gusts up to 45 mph this morning,and that's causing headaches for Mainers as they wake up in the dark.

Emera Maine reported just before 6:00 that 11,155 customers were without power. About 10,500 of those customers are in Penobscot County, with the rest in Aroostook County. CMP's outage map shows a total of 5,773 customers with no electricity, with the highest number of outages in Cumberland County. Crews are out, working to restore power this morning, but you may have to go out for your coffee.

Both utility companies remind residents to never touch a downed power line. And move over, if possible, when approaching a repair truck, to give the line workers room to work safely.