Restoration efforts are underway after a storm knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses across Maine.

The storm - which brought periods of freezing rain, soaking rain and strong wind gusts - was predicted to cause flooding, but only minor localized flooding was reported in areas that saw the most rain.

Central Maine Power Co. reported more than 21,000 customers without power at 8 a.m. Thursday. Hardest hit were Waldo and Kennebec counties.

Versant, which serves northern and eastern Maine, reported more than 62,000 customers without power.

"After high winds swept through our service territory last night and this morning, crews are prioritizing public safety issues like downed lines," Versant officials said in a 5 a.m. update. "Along with addressing public safety issues, crews are assessing damage, which is necessary for us to plan to bring the most customers online at once. At this time, restoration is expected to continue over several days."

Related Tens of thousands without power after wind, rainstorm moves through Maine

CMP officials said the utility company prepared for the storm by staging nearly 500 line and tree crews in communities across its service area.

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"Immediately after any storm, CMP crews work in partnership with local emergency management agencies to make dangerous situations safe - including deenergizing power lines on the ground and clearing roads blocked by trees," CMP officials said in a message to customers.

Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said there were reports of "pretty high wind gusts" across the region, including a 61 mph gust in Portland and 56 mph at the Augusta airport. There were gusts of around 40 mph across much of Maine, mostly between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., he said.

Palmer said there were high rainfall totals across the region, especially in the White Mountains along the Maine border and in the Midcoast area, where close to 4 inches fell. Searsmont in Waldo County recorded 3.75 inches of rain.

"Most people ended up around the 1.5- to 2.5-inch range," he said. "This was quite the soaker."

There was quite a bit of freezing rain on Wednesday before the temperature rose and a soaking rain moved into the area, Palmer said. In Augusta, 0.14 of an inch of freezing rain was reported before changing over to rain, he said.

Flooding was less of an issue than had been anticipated. Palmer said there was some minor flooding in the Saco River, which reached just above 9 feet in Conway, New Hampshire. There was also some stream flooding in Waldo County.

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"The expectation was we could have seen something a lot worse," Palmer said, noting that the stream flows were able to hold more water and the snow pack melted less than predicted.

The National Weather Service dropped the flood watches that had been in effect over much of central Maine, including Kennebec, Somerset and Androscoggin counties.

Drier weather is expected Thursday, though there may be light snow during the afternoon. The weather service says dry weather is expected until Tuesday or Wednesday.

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