PORTLAND (AP) – Mainers are cleaning up after a strong band of thunderstorms knocked down trees, dropped nickel-sized hail and left thousands of people without power.

Several bands of storms with torrential downpours and high winds made their way across Maine Friday afternoon, leaving nearly 20,000 Central Maine Power customers without power as trees toppled onto power lines.

Across Cumerland and York counties, residents reported downed trees blocking several major roads. According to the National Weather Service, lightning struck a house in South Portland.

As of early Friday night, CMP reported 19,780 power outages, with more than 13,000 of those in the utility’s Portland service area.

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