HIRAM,
Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Three days after tropical storm Irene blew through New
England, people in western Maine are still dealing with widespread power
outages and road closures.
Many
of the small, rural towns in western Maine are still in the dark. Making life
even more challenging for residents are the many roads that are still
impassable because of fallen trees and power lines. People in these towns say
those closed roads aren't just inconvenient, they are dangerous
All
over Hiram, there are roads covered with fallen trees and downed wires. Leonard
Pierce has been volunteering as an Assistant Emergency Management Director
since the storm, driving around town and checking in on people.
"Just
trying to make sure everybody's got what they need, touching base them, seeing
if there's anything we can help them with" Pierce said.
In
many places, cars are driving right under fallen trees and power lines. The
town has tried to close the roads, but with no full time police, there is no
one to enforce the closures. Pierce says it's a potentially dangerous
situation.
"Get
a crew out here just to get the roads open, even if they can't get the power
on," Pierce said. "You can't mess with power lines, you have to let the power
company do that. There are trees down with power lines and we can't touch them,
because you don't know if they're live or not."
It's
the same situation in Parsonsfield. Selectman Doug Hawkins says most of the
town is still without power, and there are still several roads that need to be
cleared. Hawkins says town residents are leaning on one another to get by.
"I
think Parsonsfield is made up of good tough people, and this isn't the first
time it's happened," Hawkins said. "We had the ice storm a few years ago if you
recall, and that was two weeks worth. So these folks will make it through."
Another
concern these town officials have is the number of people using generators. If
those generators are installed incorrectly, they could be backfiring into power
lines that are supposed to be dead. That could create a very dangerous
situations for crews working on the wires.
NEWS CENTER