A deluge of rainfall followed by howling winds blasted through Lincoln County Thurs., leaving a wake of flooded roads and downed wires.
As of 12:37 a.m. Fri. a total of 15 Lincoln County towns were reporting power outages affecting over 700 homes, according to Central Maine Power (CMP). A check of roads affected by the blackouts town by town was too long to publish, but indicated that power outages were affecting numerous roads in the 15 towns.
First responders throughout Lincoln County were kept busy on Thurs., first with a daylong rainfall; then with an east-northeast wind that blew in after dusk, gusting to over to 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Numerous roads were either flooded or partially flooded during the daytime rainfall. According to the NWS, additional flooding is expected as water from rainfall merges with rivers and creeks, and tidal rivers are met with an astronomical high tide and a 2-foot storm surge on Fri. morning. The NWS has issued a Flood Warning in effect through 3:45 p.m. Fri. afternoon. The NWS estimates that between 4 to 7 inches of rain have fallen on Lincoln County since the storm began early Thurs. morning (following yet another rainstorm).
While winds had been gusty all day long, the sustained wind velocity increased significantly after nightfall, and gusts were estimated at 50 mph by the NWS.
Reports of power outages and trees down soon followed and by 12:45 a.m. Fri. morning 15 Lincoln County towns and were reporting power outages affecting over 700 homes, according to Central Maine Power (CMP). A check of roads affected by the blackouts town by town was too long to publish, but indicated that power outages were affecting numerous roads in the 15 towns.
Local fire departments and the auxillaries that support them worked into the night, and CMP moved more crews into the hardest hit areas as gale force conditions, windblown branches, and flooded roads made road travel hazardous.
The violent winds are forecast to move out of Lincoln County in the early morning hours of Fri., but rain showers are in the forecast for Fri. morning, according to the NWS.
The Lincoln County News website will continue to follow this incident and post any new information here as soon as it becomes available.
