NORWAY – Power was knocked out to 1,100 customers in the downtown Norway area for almost an hour Thursday morning when lightning from a fast-moving storm struck a substation on Grove Street.

The storm also caused some flash flooding problems including at the Stephens Memorial Hospital where the basement was flooded and some surgery was delayed while the power was knocked out.

Gail Rice, spokesperson for Central Maine Power Co., said the substation took a direct hit at 10:40 a.m. No one was injured.

Rice said power was restored by 11:35 although scattered outages continued throughout the afternoon.

According to M. Patricia Cook, R.N., a senior vice president, the service disruptions at the hospital were mainly due to the lack of power rather than the water problem. Although the hospital generator system kicked on, several operating room cases were delayed, as were CT services and bone density studies, patient and employee meals had to be adjusted to accommodate for the loss of power as well.

“We have to be on full power,” explained spokesman Kate White.

According to a statement released by the hospital, Les Gammon, director of engineering, said the storm drains on the premises became overwhelmed and the water began to run into a manhole in the loading dock. The water then ran through a conduit into the basement and ran down the ramp in the area around the dietary offices stopping just before the kitchen.

Gammon said the water was diverted and swept into a shaft where the sump pump could pump it outside. There was also water running into the Ripley Medical Building due to the front doors being stuck open.

Norway Fire Department personnel pumped out the drains in the parking lot to allow the inside water somewhere to go as it was pumped out.

At nearly the same time, the substation on Grove Street that supplies the hospital and many other downtown businesses with power was struck by lightning knocking out power and adding to the difficulty of removing the water. Central Maine Power responded and power was restored as quickly as possible. Gammon thanked the both the Norway Fire Department and CMP for their response.

While the storm damage was fairly significant in Norway, Oxford and Paris fire departments reported no problems.