- Associated Press - Monday, March 29, 2021

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Powerful winds topping 50 mph (80 kph) knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses Monday across parts of New England.

The wind gusted to 72 mph in West Bethel, 57 mph in York, 55 mph in Rumford and 53 mph in Portland, Maine, and 54 mph in Nashua, 53 mph in Concord and 52 mph in Manchester, New Hampshire, according to the National Weather Service. Atop New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, a gust of 123 mph (198 kph) was recorded.

On Monday afternoon, more than 89,000 homes and businesses were without power in New England, including more than 35,000 apiece in both Maine and New Hampshire, officials said. The other four states all had more than 1,900 outages, including more than 6,600 in Massachusetts and more than 2,500 in Vermont and Connecticut.

The powerful winds were preventing utility workers from using bucket trucks to restore power, said Kerri Theriault, Central Maine Power’s director of electric operations.

“We understand how frustrating it is to be without power, especially when customers are seeing blue skies outside their window. Safety is our top priority and we are not able to send our lineworkers up in buckets when winds are dangerously high, like what we are seeing today. We will continue to make progress wherever and whenever we can, as quickly as possible,” Theriault said.

The good news was that the strong winds were expected to be short-lived. The National Weather Service said calmer weather was expected by Monday evening.

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