BRUNSWICK

Storms that swept through Maine on Wednesday dumped more than 6 inches of rainfall in some parts of the state, causing flooding, power outages and hazardous driving conditions at times.

While the intense storm created temporary problems overnight leading into the morning commute, Lynette Miller, a spokesperson for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said this morning no reports of major damage had been received.

“We’ve polled the county emergency managers and they have not had any major damage,” she said. “We have out fingers crossed in that regard.

“There was quite a lot of flow area and street flooding, but nothing major has been reported,” Miller added. “Everybody’s still kind of in assessment mode.”

She noted that since the storm took place overnight it makes it difficult to determine all of the potential problems stemming from the storm.

“It’s clear from watching the news reports this morning that Portland and South Portland had flooding because the drainage systems were overwhelmed,” Miller said. “When you get 4 inches in two hours — and probably 6 inches overall — that’s a lot of rain to fall.”

She was unsure about any road damage — there have been anecdotal reports of damage along Route 1 — that may have been sustained as a result of the rainfall.

“In the areas that maybe were already under construction or were already compromised, you may find some washouts,” Miller said. “We have no reports of any major routes that are blocked.”

Freeport Fire Chief Darrel Fournier said the fire department had a total of 20 calls through the evening Wednesday night and this morning. Six of those involved significant water problems. The most significant was on Summer Street where one residence had about 7 feet of water in the basement and two cars were flooded out. Firefighters isolated the power to that property. The oil tank floated and there was some release of oil, so the department worked with the Department of Environmental Protection. Also, the finished basement of house on Main Street in South Freeport had about 4 feet of water. In addition, residents of Somerset Condominiums on Summer Street couldn’t traverse the driveway for several hours, where there was between 4 and 5 feet of water.

Fournier said the town’s public works has had multiple calls of reported washouts on the side of roads, but no actual road wash-outs.

“The safety message I want to pass on is whenever you have flooded basements, make sure you don’t walk into the water, and shut power whenever water is approaching,” Fournier said — utilities like water heaters and furnaces, “because it’s not worth getting electrocuted over water damage.”

Bath Public Works director Peter Owen said crews were still assessing damage in Bath this morning, which mostly consisted of downed branches and there was some local flooding in low areas but he wasn’t aware of any road shut downs. Some of the departments communications were down due to power outages.

Brunswick police and public works crews monitored and closed some roads due to flooding, some that remained closed this morning and others re-opened.

Brunswick Fire Chief Ken Brillant said the fire department didn’t have any serious calls, but there is some road damage as a result of the heavy rains, the worst at the base of Rocky Hill on River Road where a culvert washed out. Brillant expects it will be a day or two before all of the storm-related issues are identified. In addition, Brunswick police reported early this morning that 89 Raymond Road that was closed due to the road being washed out.

Topsham police this morning reported officers are on the scene of a serious head on crash on Route 196 at the Old Lisbon Road intersection. The road was closed as of 9:30 a.m. and police were advising drivers to seek alternate routes.

Dennis Cox, Topsham’s Public Works Director, said the town had only temporary road closures for about three hours until the water receded on Bridge Street, Meadow and Meadow Cross Road. There were only minor washouts on the side of the roads but no serious permanent damage.

Information from the Maine Department of Transportation was unavailable by press time, other than from the MDOT’s online Travel Information Service (www.511maine.gov), which showed some travel issues. Those, however, were due to ongoing or scheduled construction work. Information from the Sagadahoc and Lincoln county emergency management agencies also was unavailable at press time.

According to reports from The Bangor Daily News, Wednesday’s rain caused flash flooding in southern Maine and knocked out power to thousands across the state.

Portland saw widespread flooding after 6.28 inches of rain fell, a record amount, according to the National Weather Service. Several streets were closed Wednesday night and cars became stranded in deep water, WGME reports.

Marginal Way, High Street and Preble Street are among streets that saw high water. Authorities urged residents not to drive in the deep water and were forced to rescue stranded motorists from their cars, according to WGME.

In eastern Maine, thousands lost power overnight. Emera Maine reported about 1,300 customers lost power in Deer Isle and Stonington, an outage attributed to gusting winds bringing tree limbs down on power lines. Just as crews restored power to that area early Thursday morning, another 3,300 lost power Eddington, Brewer, Holden, Dedham, Clifton and Lucerne.

Central Maine Power is reporting nearly 5,000 customers without power, including 3,700 in Lincoln County.

Contributions from the Bangor Daily News.