Nathaniel Seekins went to a Christmas party Thursday night in a rural part of Stetson. During that party, his friends had their power restored — but when Seekins returned to his Bangor home, he still didn’t have power.
After losing power Monday during the wind storm, day four without power is “the frustration point,” he said. Thankfully, power to his home was restored around 11 a.m. Friday.
Seekins was turning off his neighbor’s generator Friday morning after their power was restored to part of Bangor’s Little City neighborhood. He doesn’t have a generator but his wood stove kept interior temperatures warm enough to keep the pipes safe.
As nearly 40,000 Mainers reached day four of no power following Monday’s wind and rain storm, spirits were low due to colder temperatures and no sense of when electricity may be restored. Seeing friends and neighbors get power restored added another complicated layer of both hope and jealousy.
There are about 12,800 Versant customers without power as of 12:26 p.m. Friday. Power is expected to be restored by the end of the week, Versant said previously. About 26,200 Central Maine Power Co. customers still lacked power as of 1 p.m.
Many homes in the area around Leighton and Montgomery streets are still without power, but crews were actively working on the power lines. Multiple trees fell throughout the neighborhood.
One tree took out power lines, but others fell away from houses, or in between houses, leaving little damage behind. Power poles were damaged and broken throughout the area. The tree on the power lines was tangled for about a day and a half before it fell, resident Chris Jones said. The pole was hanging for a while before crews arrived, he said.
For an unknown reason, the power lines to Jones’ house connect to the street behind him, which means he only lost power for 30 minutes. The other houses along his street and surrounding Little City neighborhood lost their power and still don’t have it back as of Friday afternoon.
He’s been checking on neighbors, one of which bought a generator this week to help heat their house. He’s also kept his porch light on overnight to help provide a little light in the area, to help drivers see before they come across the cones, downed lines and trees.
“We definitely did get lucky,” Jones said.
Celsa Wheaton and her family are still without power in Bangor’s Little City neighborhood. They spent Thursday night in a hotel because their house was too cold to stay in, she said.
The warmer temperatures in the immediate aftermath of the power outage kept their house comfortable, Wheaton said. But, as the temperatures dropped, their house got colder.
“We were cold,” Wheaton said. “We were tucked in, in the living room.”
A couple of her kids’ pet fish didn’t survive the cold, despite the family trying their best to keep the tank water warm, she said.
Their neighbors with generators have been very kind and helpful, letting them charge electronics and offering hot showers, she said.
Now Wheaton and her family just have to wait, hoping the nearby crews will restore their power. While she hates the cold, they’ve tried to make the best of the outage, she said.
“It is what it is,” Seekins said. “It’s Maine in the winter. I think it’s part of living in Maine. Those fortunate enough to live in Maine take the good with the bad.”
