LEWISTON — The Twin Cities were hit hard by a flash flood Tuesday evening that made several roads impassable and caused minor washouts, according to officials.

National Weather Service forecaster Stephen Baron said the area received 3 to 5 inches of rain in the span of about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Additionally, Baron says thunderstorms forecast for Thursday are expected to produce scattered heavy showers, wind gusts and small hail for Androscoggin County in the afternoon into the evening. A flood watch will be in effect for “much of the same,” he said.

Angela Molino, Androscoggin County Emergency Management Agency Director, said her office received reports of downed trees and flooding mostly in the Lewiston and Auburn area.

“To our knowledge roads are back open, with the exception of Miller Alley, off Main Street in Auburn,” Molino said. “This roadway was damaged due to the flash flood event.”

Lewiston City spokesperson Angelynne Amores said Adams Avenue endured the worst of the flooding. Horton, Jefferson, Maple, Park and Sabattus streets experienced flooding, but were quickly made passable, she said. Summer and College streets had minor washouts and much of College Street’s flooding was due to a plugged culvert in front of Geiger School.

Lewiston Police Lt. Derrick St. Laurent said some of the neighborhoods in the low-lying areas were hit hard with flooding and police, fire and public works crews were sent out to keep traffic moving safely and to respond to vehicles getting stuck in standing water. He said Champlain Avenue at College Street was hit particularly hard, and water was generally pooling in or flooding many of the low-laying roads.

“Needless to say, flooding was a huge issue last night … The Kennedy Park pool was closed,” St. Laurent added. “There was about two feet of mulch that washed out into it.”

There were at least two lightning strikes in Lewiston, one on Oxford Street which caused a tree to catch fire and another on Bartlett Street which caused the branch of a tree to break and crush a vehicle beneath it, St. Laurent said. There were no injuries reported due to the storm, but the amount of displaced people is not known at this time, he said.

Auburn Public Works Deputy Director Scott Holland said his city was hit hard as well with Mechanics Row Parking Garage, Minot, Broadview and Fairview avenues and Center Street taking the brunt of the flooding.

“It primarily was downtown,” Holland said. “Most of the damage, luckily, was not on main roads. It was on Miller Alley right next to Festival Plaza and we’re already working with a contractor to fix that that. Hopefully it’ll be paved in the next couple of days.”

Holland said there were also several minor incidents with fallen trees, one on Bolster Street that took power lines down. He said the city is aware several homeowners experienced flooding, but the extent is unknown at this time.

Turner and Greene fire chiefs Nick Merry and John Soucy said their respective towns saw much rain, but no known washouts and no road closures. Soucy said Greene had some downed trees taking out powerlines, but nothing more.

“The public should stay informed by checking their local forecast and the National Weather Service in Gray for updates,” Molino said, “make sure weather alerts are enabled on cell phones, use resources like New England 5-1-1 to check for road conditions and closures, and 211 Maine for shelter openings.”

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