LEWISTON — It’s been more than 20 years since a storm that started as a hurricane hit central Maine and that storm, Bob, claimed three lives in the state and caused $21 million in damage here.

Before that, Gloria hit Maine in 1985 and 25 years before that was Donna in 1960.

Both Gloria and Bob were downgraded to tropical storms before they approached Maine.

Here’s a short summary on each of the three and some of what happened in and around the Lewiston-Auburn area during those storms.

Donna, August, 1960:

Caused more than $250,000 in damage to fishing and other boats along the Maine coast. In Lewiston, a tree fell on Horton Street during the height of the storm. That tree came close to crushing a Lewiston police cruiser. Another tree came crashing down on a house on Ash Street and the Lewiston Fire Department responded to help the residents evacuate and salvage belongings. Heavy rains caused the Androscoggin River to surge and the flow of water was reported to be five times higher than normal.

Damage was largely limited to coastal areas and there were no serious injuries or deaths that resulted from the storm, according to news and NOAA reports from the time.

Gloria, September, 1985:

Eleven U.S. deaths were attributed to Gloria but none of them were in Maine. Two people died in New Hampshire as a result of the storm, two in Rhode Island, six in Connecticut and one in North Carolina.

In Maine, there was extensive damage to trees and extended power outages as many limbs were torn from trees in the Lewiston-Auburn area. Also a news report showed a New Gloucester woman was seriously injured when the storm blew the roof off her mobile home.

It was also reported that at least 20 people sought shelter from the storm at Lewiston’s Multi-Purpose Center.

Total damage for the 13 states affected by Gloria was estimated at more than $1 billion.

Bob, August, 1991:

Bob was the worst hurricane to hit New England in 50 years. The storm claimed 17 U.S. lives, three of those in Maine, all in the southern part of the state. One man was killed when he was swept away after trying to cross a flooded road in his car, another died when he was electrocuted while trying to plug in a sump pump to an empty flooded basement. Damage locally was widespread and extensive.

In all, more than $1 million in damage was recorded in Androscoggin County. Troubles from the storm ranged from extended power outages to a fire, blamed on a power surge, that destroyed a store and ice cream stand in Durham.

The more than 6 inches of rain that fell on the region caused the Androscoggin River to rise by more than 4 feet, which led to the flooding of nearby roads. Especially hard hit were the towns of Durham, Minot, Mechanic Falls and Lisbon.

Sources: NOAA various records, Sun Journal archives, and www.pivot.net