PORTLAND, Maine — A day after a Grand Isle teenager captured lightning striking a nearby church steeple on a video recording that took the state by storm, Portland City Hall got a strike of its own.
City spokeswoman Jessica Grondin confirmed Friday that the 100-plus-year-old building got zapped during Thursday night’s thunderstorm around 5:15 p.m., in a shock that disabled City Hall’s public elevator. The strike triggered the building’s alarm and forced remaining staff to evacuate.
Grondin said the elevator remained down late Friday morning and that members of the public were being escorted by city staff between floors in the freight elevator as necessary while city officials wait for repairs to be completed.
The lightning strike wasn’t the only storm-related trouble at City Hall, she said. Grondin told the Bangor Daily News flooding also occurred on the ground-floor level at City Hall’s Clock Tower Cafe and Merrill Auditorium.
On Wednesday evening, Madawaska High School junior Carl Bouley, 16, recorded lightning striking a church steeple in a video that was subsequently posted online by nearly every Maine media outlet. Bouley said it was the second time he’d seen the steeple hit by lightning — he saw it struck in 2007 as well.
Mainers are expected to get Friday night off from the recent barrage of thunderstorms. Amanda Jellig — meteorologist for Portland television station WGME, CBS 13 — has forecast a sunny Friday, with the potential for more precipitation unlikely until at least Sunday.
