Ex-Hurricane Lee Exit’s Maine on Saturday leaving power outages, down trees and large waves.  

Hurricane Lee was downgraded to a Nor-Easter on Saturday morning but despite the downgrade strong winds the ex-Hurricane brought down trees which closed roads and lead to almost 60,000 outages in CMP’s service area.  Large waves crashed on Maine’s coast attracting a sea of onlookers despite officials warning people to stay away from the potential of rogue waves which have the potential to sweep you out to sea.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 140 miles from the center of the storm.

The storm weakened as it moved northward over the Atlantic Ocean.

As of Friday afternoon, a tropical storm warning remained in effect for eastern Maine, the entire coastline and coastal waters.

Late Thursday night, President Joe Biden approved Gov. Janet Mills’ request for a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration.

Mills asked that Biden issue the disaster declaration to give Maine access to federal resources and personnel that could assist in responding to the storm.

The Gov. also declared a state of emergency Thursday authorizing the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to activate and deploy all resources necessary to respond to Lee.

On WGAN Friday morning, MEMA Public Information Officer Vanessa Corson urged Mainers to take steps to prepare for the storm.

She said you should have enough water for everyone in your home, and it should be enough to last a few days if necessary.

Mainers are also urged to have food items at home that don’t require electricity to prepare.

Corson said to get flashlights and batteries ready and know where they’re located in case the power goes out at night when it’s already dark.

Corson also said cell phones and other electronic devices should be charged ahead of time.

Central Maine Power says it’s prepared to respond to the outages and will keep its online list of outages up to date.

To help restore service, CMP spokesperson Jon Breed said the company has around 400 to 500 crews coming in from across the Eastern Seaboard and as far north as Canada.

Corson said people who lose power need to be patient as crews work to restore service. CMP lineman can’t go up in a bucket and work on power lines until conditions are safe and high winds die down.

Corson said some could be without power for several days.