Whipping winds and driving rain Thursday night brought tree limbs crashing down on power lines, and outages were reported throughout the region.
By 9 p.m. Thursday, police and fire crews were responding to several calls as transformers blew, wires fell and gusts continued to wreak havoc.
Central Maine Power Co. did not have specific numbers, but scattered outages were reported across the Lewiston and Farmington areas as well as other parts of the state.
In Lewiston, homes on a handful of streets went dark in the early evening and streetlights across the downtown went out a short time later. The streetlights were on again by 9:30 p.m.
At Sabattus Street and Central Avenue, a small pine tree toppled and fell across one lane of traffic. Crews were sent to remove it.
In Auburn, homes in more than a dozen neighborhoods were without power and police were sent scurrying as lights went out on both sides of Court Street.
About the same time, traffic lights and railroad crossing signals went dead at Hampshire and Union streets as more lines fell and the power outages spread.
Also in Auburn, police were out directing traffic and preparing to shut down sections of roads in the event of a train passing through. At the Androscoggin County Jail, power was reportedly flickering off and on.
CMP and public works crews were sent out on several calls in the Twin Cities and surrounding towns.
Later Thursday night, the basement at a home on Gillander Avenue in Auburn was reported flooded after more than an hour-long downpour. Otherwise, police in the area reported major flooding was not yet a problem.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
