LEWISTON — So what caused the insane amount of rain, complete with thunder and lightning, that soaked parts of Maine late Wednesday and early Thursday?

National Weather Service meteorologist John Jensenius said it was just a low pressure system, and a front, that moved across the state.

“Heavy rain came mostly from a slow-moving band of heavy showers and thunderstorms,” he said.

Portland got a record-breaking 6.44 inches.

“In a two-hour period, from 9 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, Portland got 4.21 inches,” Jensenius said. “That caused a lot of flooding. There was a lot of street flooding. A lot of flash flooding.”

Rain in Lewiston-Auburn didn’t break records, but it was unusually heavy.

Androscoggin County got 4.27 inches during the storm, according to the National Weather Service. “For many areas, it fell in a matter of hours, Jensenius said.

Portland’s 6.44 inches was a more than a 200-year event, he said. Whether it was 6.4 or 4.2 inches, “it’s a lot of rain for one day,” and it came in a few hours, Jensenius said.

Typically that kind of downpour comes with a tropical storm, but this storm was not tropical.

The storm made a mess, said David Jones, director of Lewiston Public Works. “There’s a lot of water. This is not something that happens often.”

In Lewiston, there didn’t appear to be a tremendous amount of damage, Jones said. “I was pleased it wasn’t worse. Most of the problems were right here in the yard. We had water backed up into the floor.”

At 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Jones, who like others got out of bed and came into work, was cleaning up water with a wet vac. “I do anything,” he said with a chuckle.

In the city, some neighborhoods had flooded streets and flooded basements, including downtown neighborhoods and homes in the area of Bradford, Perley and Mellon streets.

“We think there was so much rain, the Garcelon Bog backed into their systems,” Jones said. “We’ve got construction going on there. We’re installing new stormwater pipes. The pipes should be helping, not hurting.”

A number of streets and roads were covered in enough water to prompt crews to put out warning signs, including Stetson Road and College Street. Other roads had part of their shoulders washed away.

Cotton Road was closed during the night when a tree fell. It was reopened by Thursday afternoon.

Lewiston fire Chief Paul LeClair said calls to his department started coming in between 8 p.m. and midnight. Many were reporting flooded basements in the downtown area.

Another called to report someone was barbecuing during the storm on a porch of a Maple Street apartment, something not allowed because it’s a fire hazard.

The Fire Department will provide some assistance to residents dealing with flooded basements, LeClair said. “We have a small supply of sump pumps and garden hoses that evacuate (homes of) water. It’s a public service. We help make sure the home is safe.”

When the flooding is serious, residents need to call a plumber, LeClair said.

Driving around Lewiston, there were a number of cushions and other items from basements set out to dry on lawns.

“Everybody had their share,” he said.

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