ROCKLAND — Some pre-alerts for a Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 storm referred to the approaching phenomenon as an Alberta Clipper. Wind advisorys developed, stirring up the otherwise insignificant coastal rain event. 

At approximately 5:25 a.m., Thursday, Rockland Police reported a large tree down on Broadway, blocking the south entrance to Berkley Street. Downed wires had crossed over the roof of a two-story company building on the opposite side of the two lane road, and a tractor trailer truck was on the approach from Thomaston Street, with seemingly nowhere to go. Soon, though, the driver figured out that the truck could pull into the parking lot of the "old Verizon building" and turn around.

Fifteen minutes after the report of the obstructred roadway, RSU 13 (Rockland, Thomaston, Owls Head, South Thomaston, and Cushing) announced a two-hour delay due to power outages in the area. RSU 40 (Union, Warren, Waldoboro, Washington, and Friendship) also announced a 2-hour delay.

This downed tree did not take out power, but as a major access point to South School, it would have caused small, yet numerous, inconveniences for busses and private cars.

However, Central Maine Power heard the call very soon after it was reported to Knox Regional Communications, and were on scene very quickly. By 6 a.m., the wires had been assessed and removed from the building, and the CMP rigs taken away, leaving only Rockland Public Works to remove the tree. 

No people, vehicles, or structures were harmed in the tree-fall.

Seventeen hundred customers in the St. George area lost power around 2 a.m., Dec. 5, according to Avangrid, the parent company to Central Maine Power. The cause is believed to be a tree that came down onto the wires. Linesworkers cleared branches from the impacted area and were able to restore power in an hour.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com