Thousands struggle without electricity after powerful storm hits new England

In the wake of a potent nor'easter, over 100,000 homes and businesses in Maine and New Hampshire are still without power.  

The storm, which brought forceful winds and heavy snow days ago, has left residents in the dark for several days.

People face a prolonged wait for restoration.

Despite the tireless work of 1,125 line crews and 400 tree-cutting teams, Maine's primary electric utility warns that some may not see their power restored until early next week. The majority of the outages, which exceeded 150,000 at the start of Saturday, are concentrated in southern Maine. Meanwhile, over 10,000 New Hampshire homes and businesses continue to endure the blackout.

Jonathan Breed, a spokesperson for Central Maine Power, reported over 5,000 damage incidents that needed addressing during the storm, including more than 300 broken utility poles.

This year's winter and spring have been particularly challenging for Maine, the country's most densely forested state. A December storm resulted in power loss for about 450,000 homes and businesses, and an ice storm last month left 200,000 in the dark. The recent nor'easter, which hit on Wednesday night and Thursday, left over 300,000 without power.

According to Jonathan Breed, climate change may be amplifying the severity and frequency of these storms. "We are confronted with these stronger, more frequent storms across the board. That’s something we attribute to a changing climate," Breed stated.

Northern New England reported snowfall of over a foot in many areas. At one point, nearly 700,000 customers in New England were without power, marking the largest April nor'easter since 2020.