Drought conditions, recent rainfall and an unusual storm path in Maine may have contributed to the large numbers of trees that toppled during a storm that walloped the Northeast this week, officials said.
Because of dry conditions, the trees’ roots weren’t healthy, and ground conditions and foliage that remained on the trees made them more susceptible to wind, said Peter Rogers, acting director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency.
Across the Northeast, more than 440,000 people were still without power Wednesday.
And the winds were exceptionally powerful, with four times the force of a common wind storm, he said.
Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, has ordered a review of National Grid’s response to a storm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people in New England.
Nearly 30,000 people still were without power in Rhode Island on Wednesday.
The scope of the damage in Maine made comparisons to the 1998 ice storm inevitable.
Roger Pomerleau turned his business into a makeshift shelter after the ice storm, allowing employees of his home furnishings store to use the washing machines and refrigerators while their homes were without power.
"The temperature is in our favor right now.
Those were cold temperatures back then," Pomerleau said.