As of Dec. 19, 9 p.m., there remained approximately 221,000 Central Maine Power Company customers without electricity. CMP said in an evening news release that the Dec. 18 storm knocked out power to more than 400,000 customers in southern, coastal, inland and western Maine.

“ By end of day Tuesday, the company will have more than 1,175 line and tree crews working to restore power,” said CMP. “That figure exceeds that of the 1998 Ice Storm which saw 1,048 line and tree crews at its peak. More than 142,000 CMP customers have had their power restored as of early Tuesday evening.”

As of 5 p.m.  Dec. 19, CMP  restored power to more than 117,000 customers or about 29% of those affected. It could be up to six days for some Maine locations to again have electricity.

“We have more than 2,000 people including 1,400 line and tree crews on the job now with more arriving tomorrow, working 24x7 until power is restored to all of our customers,” the company said.

According to CMP: “All restoration starts with two key functions: 1) making the situation safe and 2) assessing the damage. Damage assessment is key to efficient restoration. When you see trucks driving in your neighborhood, know that they are likely assessing damage to determine the best plan for restoring power in the safest, quickest way possible. Our assessors inspect the damage and identify the crews (tree, pole setting, line) and equipment (poles, transformers, wires) needed to make repairs. Once the right crews and equipment for the job are assigned, we will have an estimate of when your power is likely to be restored and we will provide that estimate to you.”

Learn more about the CMP Power Restoration process.

“We know how frustrating it can be to be without power, and we appreciate your patience.  In areas hardest hit, particularly in some interior parts of the state, we could be faced with a six-day restoration timeframe based on what we know right now,” said Purington in a video message. “We understand the disruption an outage can cause to daily life. Please know our entire team will be working around the clock to restore your power quickly and safely.”

Since the storm began, Central Maine Power has received more than 1,500 calls from local emergency management agencies involving damaged trees, broken poles, washed out roads, and area flooding.

“This has created incredibly challenging conditions for crews, who have been unable to access some areas that have been hardest hit, particularly in interior parts of Maine,” the release said.

The latest numbers, by county, are:

 In Knox County, the numbers town-by-town are:

In Waldo County:

CMP provides electricity service to 26,130 customers in WALDO County.

CMP reminds customers to remember the following if they have lost power:

• Stay away from downed lines. No line is safe to touch.
• Turn off or unplug major appliance and sensitive electronics.
• Never use ranges or outdoor stoves to heat your home.
• If you need shelter or food, reach out to 211 for available resources

If you lose service:

• For fast outage reporting, use the CMP mobile app or visit Outage Central.
• 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 http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/refridg_food.html.

For customers with generators:

• Hire a licensed electrician to install permanent generators and transfer switches.
• 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.