RANGELEY — Fire Chief Tim Pellerin said Monday that a microburst may have formed over Mooselookmeguntic Lake, resulting in hundreds of downed trees.
“It looks like a bomb went off,” Pellerin said as he and others assessed the damage. There were no serious injuries.
As the storm approached early Sunday evening, storm clouds covered the town, the chief said.
“It was like nighttime, the street lights came on, then the rain fell sideways and the storm came roaring through town snapping trees and telephone poles,” he said. “It was a violent storm.”
He said a microburst may have gone from the lake across Haines Landing and through the woods to Bald Mountain Road.
“There’s substantial damage, trees on homes, trees across roads, telephone poles down, three or four homes with holes through the roof and three or four cars were crushed, but no one was injured,” Pellerin said.
One house in Oquossoc was struck by lightning. Another had a tree through a bedroom.
“Looking at the woods, it’s miles and miles of trees half down,” he said. “It’s not one spot but a massive area.”
The damage is on public and private lands and Pellerin said he had not estimate on the damage.
Within a five-minute span Sunday night, the fire department received 17 calls of trees and power lines down.
“It really was a major event for the community. I’m thankful we were able to respond in a rapid, professional manner and no one was seriously hurt, just a lot of property damage,” he said.
In Farmington and Wilton, fire departments were called out for trees and lines down.
A large tree limb on Paul Hodgkin’s property on Mill Street in West Farmington went through the roof of the home into a bedroom, fire Chief Terry Bell said. No one was injured. Firefighters pulled the limb down and covered the hole in the roof, he said.
They also responded to power lines down on Seamon and the Red Schoolhouse roads.
A large piece of a maple tree near a High Street apartment house owned by Charles Webster and next to Farmington Veterinary Service also came down. Timothy Harvell, arborist, along with Bill Guenther worked Monday to take the rest of the tree down. They estimated it was at least 100 years old.
Meanwhile, Central Maine Power Co. was working Monday to restore power to nearly 500 customers in Franklin County, spokesman Gail Rice said.
“Our goal is to finish by late this evening,” she said.
As of 7:40 p.m. Monday, the CMP website listed 74 customers till without power.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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- Arborist Tim Harvell, left, and Bill Guenther cut up a tree on High Street in Farmington on Monday morning. A large piece of the tree was blown down during Sunday evening’s severe storm that swept across Maine.
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- Arborist Tim Harvell cuts up a tree on High Street in Farmington on Monday. Sunday’s severe storm downed trees and power lines across areas of the state.
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- A large limb fell through the roof of this Mill Street home in West Farmington during Sunday evening’s severe storm. No one was injured, fire Chief Terry Bell said.
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