Line squall causes outages throughout central Maine

AUGUSTA -- A fast-moving, rain-carrying, lightning-fueled squall line racing through central Maine left a lot of people in the dark Saturday night.

Central Maine Power Co. had more than 9,600 of its customers without electricity Saturday evening, although crews had managed to restore power to almost half of them by 8 p.m.

Kevin Howes, supervisor in the communications center at the utility company, said the reports of power outages began occurring just after 4 p.m. Saturday, with the majority coming between 5 and 6 p.m.

"That squall line brought some nasty weather," he said. Howes said the Augusta area had the largest number of outage reports.

Much of north Augusta along Route 27 looked as though blackout conditions had been imposed Saturday night. Street lights remained darkened, as did lights at various motels. Traffic signals, however, kept working.

The big Irving Mainway Blue Canoe at Exit 112 of Interstate 95 was closed and dark as were the fast-food businesses that surround it. The Augusta Civic Center lost power.

One North Augusta business, Augusta Pizza Connection at 595 Civic Center Drive, rerouted delivery orders to its Bangor Street Shop.

Owner Dan Demeritt said night manager Leslie Honeycutt and owner Martha Demeritt used flashlights and cell phones to transfer the orders between stores.

"Six drivers ferried some deliveries more than 15 miles to serve customers without power," Dan Demeritt said.

The Augusta Police Department and the Maine State Police regional dispatch center in North Augusta remained on generator-produced power almost four hours after the storm rolled through.

Much of Sidney appeared to be without power, as well as parts of Vassalboro, Farmingdale and other areas.

Here were the number of outages reported at 9:15 p.m. Saturday: Augusta area, 2,000; Farmington, 1,701; Bridgton 732. Outages reports in Fairfield, Portland and Brunswick dropped to double-digit figures as repairs were made during the evening.

The National Weather Service office in Gray had forecast a "hazardous weather outlook" for 2 p.m. and later Saturday in Kennebec, Franklin, Somerset, Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, Androscoggin and Waldo counties, among others.

It blamed the thunderstorms on a passing cold front and predicted "strong to severe storms."

Power surges related to the outages sent Augusta police and firefighters scurrying to false alarms at the Edmund S. Muskie Building, Western Avenue, and at Michael's at the Marketplace at Augusta.

Augusta Police Lt. Jeff Pomerleau said part of the storm appeared as a funnel cloud on Western Avenue at 6:28 p.m. Saturday.

"It looked like a finger sticking out of the sky," he said. Other people called police reporting the same unusual weather phenomenon.

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