Bertha's 'remnant' soaks, blacks out parts of Maine

By Abby Zimet
Staff Writer

[This article is either from the Portland Daily Something-or-another, or the Bangor Whatchamacallit, I forget. I typed it in from a copy that is missing the name of the paper. I will remember to ask Sue's parents, who copied the article for us, which paper they got it from.]

Bertha swept into state on Saturday with weaker winds than expected, but enough rain -- up to 6 inches in places -- to flood many roads and basements, and keep most Mainers indoors.

After packing winds of more than 100 mph, Hurricane Bertha was downgraded by Saturday evening to what George Wiseman of the National Weather Service called "the remnant of a tropical storm that was the remnant of a hurricane."

Still, power was cut to 8,000 Central Maine Power customers from Boothbay Harbor to Ogunquit at the peak of the storm Saturday night, said Gail Rice, a company spokeswoman.

The largest blackouts occured in Bridgton, Norway, and Lovell, [emphasis mine] where 6,000 customers lost power. Most of the remaining outages were in Portland and across York County.

Wiseman said the storm "lost a lot of its punch" moving over land and colder water en route to Maine. Saturday's winds were running about 24 mph, considerably less than early forecasts of about 50 mph.

But the rain kept falling. By late Saturday night, observers for the National Weather Service had reported 6.1 inches in South Berwick, 5 inches in Lewiston, 4.29 inches in Sanford, and 3.28 inches in Portland. A flood watch remained in effect through most of Maine.

"It's very wet," noted Wiseman. "Duck weather." [Note from me: Wabbit weather]

With the storm moving more quickly than expected Saturday night toward Cape Cod, Wiseman said today should be breezy, and maybe even sunny, particularly in southern and western Maine. [Note from me: It was stunningly beautiful and sunny both Friday and Sunday]

As rain continued to fall Saturday, sometimes in drenching downpours, flooding was reported across the state. In Bath, officials got calls about flooded basements; in Brunswick, road crews put up barricades at scores of roads washed out by heavy rains; and in Belfast, the Waldo County Sherrif's Department reported "floods all over the place."

In Portland, police Sgt. Bruce Chase said officials were "running pretty busy." He said winds tripped many business alarm systems, and rains flooded low areas including Riverside, Commercial, High, and Gilman streets, Park Avenue, and Woodfords Corner.

Chase said road crews stayed busy clearing out water and debris that washed up through the sewers.

"As soon as the storm drains catch up with the water, it goes back down to normal levels," he said. "It's just standing water, and there's a lot of it."

In downtown Portland, Tim Haley was one of about 20 people to remain on their boats at Dimillo's Marina. With weaker-than-expected winds coming out of the east, he said his boat was "barely moving."

"It's not bad at all," said Haley. "It's only if it comes out of the northeast that it starts rocking and rolling. This is a piece of cake."

Haley said the owners of some boats had moved to more protected berths, but the four lines he put on his boat were more than enough. After a winter of being battered by northeast winds, Haley said he was not disappointed the storm came in more gently than expected.

"I don't look for trouble," he said.

At South Portland's Maine Mall, Keith Citrine, the Summerfest organizer, reported that event -- formerly the Deering Oaks Family Festival -- went on almost as planned.

Citrine said he and a small crew worked almost all night moving 1,500 chairs under tents for Saturday night's concert by Charlie Major, a country singer. Once the chairs were cleared from the Mall's Astroturf, he said, teen-age crew members went body surfing on it.

Citrine said rides closed down early Saturday and pig races were canceled -- "They don't like the rain" -- but other events went on as scheduled.

"We take pride the festival goes on rain or shine," he said. "You go with the flow."

In Old Orchard Beach, the Association of Volleyball Professionals Championship of New England was called off at about 11 a.m.

Doug Holmes, a reserve police officer providing security for the event, reported "a rainy, windy, moldy kind of day" on the beach. He said rains and winds had blown down some tournament signs and flags, but play is set to restart today at 7 a.m.

In Norway, for the first time in its 24-year history, the Sidewalk Art festival was shut down by weather. It will be held today, from noon to 5 p.m. on Main Street and artists can still submit their work.

Statewide, few recreational hikers or boaters bothered to head out. Paul Reynols, a spokesman for the Maine Warden Service, said river levels have already been running above average for the year. In coming days, he warned, the storm may result in unsafe conditions on bigger rivers.

The high water levels and the expected rain also prompted canoe rental companies on the Saco River to try to round up their canoes Saturday and suspend overnight rentals Saturday night.

The Coast Gurad put out a special marine broadcast warning of 6 to 12 foot seas Saturday night building to 8 to 15 feet Sunday and winds of 30 to 40 knots.

Edward D. Murphy, staff writer, contributed to this report.