Heavy rain leads to flooding across area

Water flows Thursday toward the Androscoggin River near Festival Plaza in Auburn after heavy rain came through the area. Vanessa Paolella/Sun Journal

AUBURN — It took a while for the rain to get here but when it came, it came fast and hard.

Water floods up from a sewer cover Thursday night near Festival Plaza in Auburn. Vanessa Paolella/Sun Journal

After the skies opened up at about 7 p.m. Thursday night, reports of flooding came in from all over the place. One Auburn woman reported the water in her toilet came gushing up, flooding her bathroom. A resident on Main Street in Auburn reported about a foot of water in the area near Festival Plaza, along with a foul smell and storm drains overflowing.

In another part of Auburn, roughly four inches of water were reported inside a business.

Power lines were reported down in various places across the Twin Cities and sections of some roads were covered in water. Basements were reported flooding in several areas.

In Lewiston, residents at 140 Canal St. reported water flooding a building shortly before 8 p.m. It was reported shortly after that a part of the roof had collapsed and water was gushing in. Flooding issues were also reported at the Lewiston Public Library on Lisbon Street. Public Works crews were headed there at about 8 p.m.

Fire crews in both cities were responding to call after call, most of them related to heavy rain and flooding. Streets in some areas were being closed due to water across roadways. At Lisbon Street and Androscoggin Avenue in Lewiston, police were detouring traffic around a flooded stretch of street.

The National Weather Service in Gray earlier in the day warned of approaching thunderstorms with heavy rains and damaging winds. The bulletin said that at least a quarter inch of rain could fall while the storm was passing through, although nearly half inch was reported in some areas.

In Androscoggin County, a flood advisory went out at about 8 p.m. and was to remain in effect until 10 p.m.