A significant rain and wind storm pummeled Lincoln County Sept. 30, causing power outages, washing out roads, and damaging an important National Weather Service radio tower in Dresden.
At the height of the storm there were 174 power outages in Lincoln County, four NWS weather advisories in effect, a number of area roads submerged in rain water, and minor tidal flooding in Damariscotta.
Precipitation began in the evening hours of Tuesday, Sept. 29, intensified overnight hours, and continued until the storm moved out of the area at approximately 8 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 30.
The heaviest precipitation passed through Lincoln County during the midday hours, Sept. 30. Rainfall, sometimes falling at the rate of 1 inch per hour, accumulated to 3 to 5 inches in some areas of Lincoln County, according to the NWS.
The high winds and wet weather combined with the abundance of leaves still on trees or on the ground were mentioned as a contributing factor to flood conditions, according to the NWS.
Poor drainage in some areas was due to fallen leaves clogging pipes and gutters, according to the NWS.
At 11:47 a.m. Sept. 30, the NWS issued a special weather statement advising that the NWS radio transmitter on Blinn Hill in Dresden had been knocked out of service by a downed tree. The radio transmitter remained out of service until the following day, a NWS official said.
The radio transmitter is used by the NWS to broadcast around the clock weather information to the Lincoln County area.
