AUGUSTA — Central Maine Power is responding to outages this evening caused by winds from Tropical Storm Isaias.

At 9:30 p.m., the company reported over 75,000 outages with York and Cumberland Counties having the highest numbers, over 20,000 each.

In Knox County, there are 26 reported customers without power as of 10 p.m.

In Waldo County, there are 264 reported customers without power as of 10 p.m.

In Lincoln County, there are 973 reported customers without power as of 10 p.m.

CMP crews are working with County and local Emergency Management officials to clear roads as needed, assessing damage and repairing and restoring.

“Our crews are out, ensuring roads and communities are safe and assessing damage. We expect the wind to die down early in the morning, enabling us to focus on restoration and to work more quickly,” said David Flanagan, Executive Board Chair of CMP. “We are fortunate to have the assistance of the contractors from New Brunswick as all utilities and contractors south of Maine are engaged in this storm.”

Severe wind gusts may prevent workers from going up in buckets; CMP prioritizes the safety of all employees and contractors.

In addition to about 100 CMP crews, the company has approximately 90 contracted lineworkers, including 20 from New Brunswick, Canada, and 100 tree crews responding to the outages.

CMP crews and contractors are also adhering to COVID-19 protocols that include appropriate social distancing practices for field employees and contractors including:

Working in separate teams to minimize contact

Restricting visitor access to company facilities

Entering a customer residence only in the event of emergency and after assessing risk

Maintaining appropriate social distancing in the field

Allowing one employee per vehicle

Wearing masks as situations require

Customers may use online tools, accessible at cmpco.com to report and monitor outages.

If you lose service

To report an outage, visit Outage Central at cmpco.com. Customers may also report an outage using CMP’s 24/7 automated phone system at 800.696.1000.

Keep sensitive electronic appliances such as computers, TVs and stereos plugged into a surge protector, or unplug them. They could be damaged if a power surge occurs when electricity is restored.

Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. For information about food safety, visit foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/refridg_food.html.

For customers with generators

Properly ground all portable generators.

Carefully read and observe all instructions in your generator’s operating manual.

Never run a generator indoors, or even in an open garage.

If your carbon monoxide detector goes off – get out of the building immediately and call 911.

Do not store fuel indoors or try to refuel a generator while it’s running.

Refer to CMP’s web page on generator safety