Versant service area sees 5,000 outages as thunderstorms roll across Maine

At least 5,000 residences on Versant Power’s supply grid lost power on Thursday afternoon.

While the cause of the outages was not immediately clear, Versant noted that the company was working to identify and resolve multiple outages across Penobscot and Hancock counties.

The National Weather Service on Thursday issued a severe thunderstorm watch as a quick-moving storm system made its way eastward. The thunderstorm system had the potential to generate high winds up to 70 miles per hour, along with quarter-sized hail.

Widespread damage has not been reported in the Bangor area, with the storm expected to travel southeast of the region, but at least 500 residences were without power as of 5:15 p.m.

In total, 2,831 residences in Hancock County were without power on Thursday evening, and 2,199 Penobscot County homes were left in the dark.

A call to Versant Power was not immediately returned on Thursday afternoon.