The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Heavy Rain Drenches Area; Lightning Hits Four Homes

July 08, 2009 - KENNEBUNK -- A batch of thunderstorms moved through the southern half of the state Thursday, bringing lightning that hit three houses at once in this coastal town.

Kennebunk Fire Chief Stephen Nichols said a bolt of lightning struck a pine tree on Christopher Lane about 9 a.m. and was carried by an underground drainage pipe to three houses, causing slight damage.

Another home in Kennebunkport, at 242 Kings Highway along Goose Rocks beach, was reportedly struck by lightning about the same time.

With the lightning and thunder came drenching downpours, which prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flash-flood warning for York County. That warning was lifted about 1 p.m. Thursday.

There's a chance the weather will take a turn for the better over the weekend.

There may be some clearing Saturday, depending on the movement of a low-pressure area, said Butch Roberts, a meteorologist with the weather service in Gray. A more northerly route might mean nicer weather – the farther south it tracks, the worse conditions are likely to get.

Forecasts for Sunday call for partly to mostly sunny weather in southern Maine.

The weather also has been unseasonably cool. Portland saw a record broken Wednesday when the highest temperature at Portland International Jetport reached only 59 degrees, the lowest high ever recorded for July 1. The previous record was 62 degrees set in 1976.

The temperature range, from a low of 56 to a high of 59 (only 3 degrees difference) also set a record. It was the smallest daily temperature range in Portland for July 1, surpassing the old record of 4 degrees, set in 1979.

Officials say a Massachusetts man died Wednesday after being struck by lightning while shellfishing off Cape Cod. Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe identified the victim as Christopher West, 42, of Eastham, Mass.

The Associated Press reported that West was struck on a boat in Pleasant Bay off Orleans late Wednesday afternoon.

No one was killed or injured in the Kennebunk lightning strike. The bolt touched down on Christopher Road, hit a large pine tree, then traveled to three homes via a 4-inch underground drainage pipe.

The charge reached No. 14 first, with a force so strong the windows and doors of the basement blew out, Nichols said. The basement quickly filled with smoke, he said.

Nichols said a resident at the house was knocked off her feet. She was not injured.

The two houses next door, 12 and 16 Christopher Road, were also damaged, with No. 12 losing its telephone lines.

"The woman who lives in 16 is an artist and was working in the basement," said Nichols. "The static charge was so hot it ignited the steel wool" she had left on the floor during her work.

John Jensenius, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said it was wise for the homeowners to stay inside.

"Lightning is very powerful, and most people don't realize just how powerful it is," he said.

"It's good they were inside because it sounds like there was plenty of that energy going around."

By GISELLE GOODMAN, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, July 3, 2009


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Sanford


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News