Maine began picking up the pieces Tuesday after a violent wind and rain storm tore through the state Monday, killing at least two people, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power, and triggering widespread flooding that washed away some roads and resulted in nearly 100 route closures. 

Wind speeds reached over 70 miles per hour in some parts of the state Monday, downing trees and power lines. As of noon on Tuesday, over 400,000 people were still without power, including about 300,000 Central Maine Power customers. CMP and Versant, Maine’s other primary utility company, both said they anticipate needing multiple days to restore power to all customers. 

There were two confirmed deaths from the storm, with falling trees striking Troy Olson of Windham and a man in Fairfield whose name has not been released. 

Along with wind damage, the storm caused massive flooding, particularly of rivers in central and western Maine. The Gray National Weather Service reported that the Kennebec River in Augusta is expected to continue to rise Tuesday to 25 feet before gradually coming down. The flood level for that river is 12 feet. At its Hallowell location, the river is expected to crest today at 17.4 feet. In addition, the Androscoggin River in Rumford crested Monday at 22 feet. The flood stage for that river is 15 feet. The height of the river is forecasted to come down throughout the day Tuesday. 

Farmington in particular sustained significant flooding damage, with a photo on X showing large parts of the western Maine town underwater.   

The Swift River in Mexico also flooded, and two people are currently missing after the car they were in was swept into the water while crossing a bridge going toward Rumford, the Maine Department of Public Safety said Tuesday. 

Myriad photos circulated Monday on X of the damage caused by the flooding, with some roads, such as the one leading to Sunday River Resort, being washed away. Other routes in that area also sustained heavy damage, and as of Tuesday morning the Maine Department of Transportation said about 90 state roads were closed. 

“Please be patient: our crews cannot assess or repair roads until fallen power lines have been safely removed,” the DOT wrote on Facebook. 

The latest road closure information can be found here. 

Following the damage from the storm, Gov. Janet Mills announced that state office buildings would be closed Tuesday.  

“My administration remains in close contact with Maine’s county emergency management agencies and with our electric utilities,” Mills said in a statement. “We are expecting a multi-day recovery effort at this point, and, for now, we continue to strongly encourage people, especially those in more heavily impacted areas, to stay off the roads to give crews the space they need to clear debris and restore power as quickly as possible.”

The closure is likely to have ripple effects across state government as lawmakers are rushing to complete work before the holiday. For instance, the legislature’s Government Oversight Committee canceled a meeting scheduled for Wednesday because of the storm. Among other topics, the committee was slated to discuss potential reforms to Maine’s troubled child welfare system. The committee will now not meet to address that ongoing challenge until the new year.  

Monday’s storm comes amid a year of intense weather events that have caused extensive flooding and damage in areas across the northeast. In July, for example, another storm led to massive flooding in Vermont, particularly in the central part of the state. Much of Montpelier, the state’s capital, was underwater afterward and the damage from that storm totaled over $1 billion. 

The increase in the severity of storms is linked to continued global climate change, scientists say, with a warming planet making weather events such as the one on Monday more likely to occur.