Cleanup work continued today after a weekend storm brought heavy rains and high winds, leaving swollen rivers and flooded basements in its wake.

“It’s a mess,” said Hallowell Town Manager Gary Lamb. “It’s going to take a while to clean up.”

Spectrum News Meteorologist Justin Gehrts said a strong low pressure system pulled in moisture that contributed to as much as six inches of rain in some locations.

"It's not as intense as a bit nor'easter or hurricane, but it's noteworthy for mid-spring," he said.

The storm knocked out power to thousands of customers statewide, and even Tuesday morning some people remained in the dark. Monday morning, Central Maine Power reported 45,000 customers without power. As of noontime, there were 120 outages, most of those in Penobscot County.

“Hundreds of crews have been working since the onset of this storm to restore power in each of our affected communities safely and quickly,” said CMP Spokesperson Jon Breed. “While some teams have encountered blocked roads due to downed trees and localized flooding, we are making good progress and will continue working until all customers have their power restored.” 

Versant reported more than 13,000 outages Monday morning and said just over 250 customers remained without power as of noontime Tuesday.

“Our crews worked through the night and will continue through the day today to restore power to the remaining customers without service,” said Versant Spokesperson Marissa Minor. “All customers are expected to be restored today.”

Minor said Hancock County was hit hardest in the utility’s coverage area. Winds there gusted over 60 mph, she said, leading to downed tree limbs and lines, and even broken utility poles.

Winds were also high in Bath, where Bath Iron Works maintains a series of cranes. The shipyard’s spokesperson, David Hench, said there was no danger due to the crane operators utilizing a common safety practice known as “weathervaning.” Crews release the “parking brake” on the cranes, allowing them to swing freely in the wind, making them less likely to be knocked over.

Some parts of the state fared better than others. York County Emergency Management Director Art Cleaves said Tuesday that his county had far less damage than he expected.

"We did better than the rest of the state this time," he said.

Even in Saco, where flooding during rainstorms is common, Cleaves said the Saco River stayed just below flood levels.

"THey had about a foot to spare yesterday," he said.

In Limington, where flash flooding was at its worst in the county, Fire Chief Emil Braley said there was a partial road closure on Douglas Road near the Cornish town line, but he suspected that work crews would have the road repaired and fully open soon.

"Most of our damage has been shoulder washouts," he said.

The only major closure Braley knew of was in Limerick on Route 11, where a collapsed culvert was forcing traffic to detour, but there were alternate routes available.

The National Weather Service warned that some rivers remained under flood warnings Tuesday, including the Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Sandy Rivers. In Hallowell, the Kennebec River flows past the city’s downtown area, and Lamb said Tuesday morning that localized flooding will require some cleanup work.

“The basements are flooded in the businesses on Front Street,” he said. “There’s feet of water in some of them.”

Lamb noted the river responds to freshwater tides, but that hasn’t been helping much.

“The tidal influence overnight was almost nothing, there’s so much water coming down,” he said.

(Above: The lower seating area of The Quarry Tap Room in Hallowell. Susan Cover/Spectrum News Maine)

Granite City Park, he said, is covered in silt, and any objects that could have been carried away by the rising river have been removed. Still, he said, things could have been worse. The river has not risen to historically high levels, such as the infamous 1987 flood that hit the city. No one, to his knowledge, has been hurt by the storm, and the buildings, despite the flooding, remain structurally sound.

“These buildings have been wet before,” he said. “They’ll be wet again.”

This story will be updated.