The rain and wind that have pelted the state since a nor’easter began Tuesday were expected to taper off by Friday afternoon, clearing the way for brighter and partly sunny skies this weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Gray.
Portland received 2.85 inches of rain over the course of three days, while Gorham received 3.3 inches. Some parts of Maine were expected to get up to 4 to 5 inches of rain before the storm leaves the state.
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“It wasn’t as much a classic nor’easter as it was a closed low-pressure system that was cut off from the (air) flow above,” meteorologist Eric Sinsabaugh said Thursday night. “The storm just parked itself off the New England coast, where it has spent the past three days.”
Though the storm did not cause as much river and street flooding as some had feared, its impact was felt around the state. There was a dramatic rescue Thursday morning in Belfast Harbor, where two men pulled an elderly woman driver out of her sinking car after she accidentally drove into the harbor.
High winds along the coast pulled several boats free of moorings.
At Southern Maine Community College in South Portland, two private sailboats broke free and ran aground. One of them hit the breakwater at Spring Point and the other crashed up against the pier used by marine science students. Waves battered the boat against the pier, heeling it over so its metal mast touched power lines. Central Maine Power Co. shut power to the lines as a precaution, which also cut electricity to two of the school’s buildings. One, the art building, had to postpone classes, said Clarke Canfield, spokesman for the college.
Coast Guard Lt. Scott McCann said that was just one of the storm-related incidents the agency responded to during the day Thursday.
In Belfast, during a heavy downpour Thursday morning, 92-year-old Eva Lenfest of Searsport drove her Ford Taurus off a boat launch located near the end of Main Street.
Belfast police officer Wendell Ward said two men working on the waterfront came to her rescue as the car began to sink. Ward said Bryden Burleson of Monroe and Howard Whitcomb of Brooks grabbed a dinghy and rowed out to the car. They were able to pull her out and bring her to safety.
Lenfest thought she was still on the road when the accident happened, police said. She was taken to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast to be checked out as a precautionary measure, but her injuries – a few bumps and bruises – were not considered serious.
“Witnesses told me the car was starting to sink just as they got her out,” Ward said. “There is no doubt in my mind that they saved her life.”
In Lubec, a man was spotted clinging to a dinghy near a boat ramp and drifting toward a nearby bridge. Coast Guard and the Customs and Border Protection personnel launched boats to assist him. The border patrol agents arrived first, taking the man to safety while the Coast Guard recovered his skiff.
“Today’s a busy day as you can imagine because of the storm and heavy seas and winds,” McCann said.
Unmanned sailboats also washed ashore on Peaks Island and at Owls Head in Rockland. The Coast Guard was working to ensure that no pollutants spilled into the water, he said.
Rain started to pick up in southern New Hampshire at 7 a.m. Thursday after heavy downpours in Massachusetts overnight.
Central Maine Power Co. reported 4,300 customers had lost power, with 2,800 in Cumberland County and 1,000 in York County on Thursday morning.
But by 9 p.m. Thursday, only 194 CMP customers were still without power.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey contributed to this report.
David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:
Twitter: @Mainehenchman
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