Snow Hits Weeks Before Start of Winter: Over 100K Lose Power in Maine; Tennesee and South Carolina Also See Early Storms
The first snowfall of the season has covered Maine in almost two feet of snow, cutting power to thousands of residents. As crews continue unearthing the state from its snowy cover and start re-establishing power, other parts of the country are also waking up to snow weeks before the beginning of winter.
Sunday's snowstorm blanketed most of Maine in several inches of snow, according to NBC News, seven weeks ahead of the official start of winter. The strong winds and snow fall knocked down various trees and power lines, cutting out power to more than 135,000 people as of Sunday.
Republican Gov. Paul LePage soon after declared a state of emergency.
The Bangor Daily News reported on Sunday that around a foot of snow had fallen on Bangor, Maine, and city officials were forced to close some roads because of fallen power lines.
Emera, one of Maine's energy providers, reported 57,000 customers lost power in eastern and central Maine, and Central Maine Power said around 79,000 of its customers were without power.
"The utility placed extra crews on standby for the weekend in anticipation of the storm," Emera spokesman Bob Potts said in a news release. "They will remain in the field addressing problems and working to restore service to customers as safely and quickly as possible."
Emera expects most of their customers to regain power by Wednesday; however, those in harder to reach areas may not see power back until the end of the week. They asked residents to plow and sand side roads and long driveways to facilitate operations for repair crews.
By Monday, the estimate of customers without power had risen to around 140,000; however, clean up and repairs are currently underway. Emera added that crews from New Brunswick would join other repair crews, and Tuesday crews from Nova Scotia would also help with repairs.
However, according to the Washington Post, Maine was not alone this weekend.
The Southeast also experienced unexpectedly high snowfalls from Tennessee to South Carolina. Parts of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains experienced snowfall as high as 22 inches and Columbia, South Carolina saw around four inches of snow, the earliest November snowfall in decades.
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