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Strong winds cause trouble on land and on water

Storm damages boats and knocks out power to more than 100,000 Mainers

MAINE, USA — Tuesday's overnight storm was quick but mighty, packing a punch with winds that took down power lines and a lot of tree limbs.

Crews were out in Westbrook, Windham, and other cities and towns to remove power lines and trees that were blocking streets.

The big issue with this storm was the wind with gusts up to 53 mph in Portland and 58 mph in Bar Harbor.

At its peak, Central Maine Power has more than 105,000 outages.

Catherine Hartnett, a spokesperson for CMP's parent company Avangrid, said winds were still too dangerous for power crews to go up in bucket trucks.

And, she said tree limbs, which CMP has been trying to knock back, were still a problem.

Hartnett said, "CMP has a tree trimming cycle, regulated by the MPUC, that calls for trimming along every circuit every five years. We have done this for more than 10 years and are into our third cycle."

RELATED: Thousands losing power as strong winds hit Maine

She goes on to say that a big problem is that trees that are outside the areas CMP is allowed to cut are still falling on power lines and causing outages.

Outages weren't the only problem.

"We had a couple of boats comes ashore this morning, we're going to assess some damage," said Falmouth Police Lt. Frank Soule.

Soule said the storm caused at least two boats to come off their moorings at the Falmouth Town Landing and hit other boats, one also striking a nearby pier.

"You can see there is some damage to the starboard side," said Soule, who grew up on these waters. 

Credit: NCM

Soule said after a storm he or the harbormaster will hit the water to assess any damage. Whatever damage they see they document and then contact the owner of the vessel. 

"You would be watching for obvious damage, moorings that are hung up, not riding the way they should be, boats not swung in the same direction as other boats," said Soule.

Soule said considering how many boats are still in the water this time of year, they could have fared a lot worse.

RELATED: Wind & Rain Wednesday Morning

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