North Berwick hit by possible tornado

NORTH BERWICK – Houses were damaged and dozens of trees were knocked down Friday afternoon by heavy winds and what some people say might have been a tornado.

The storm knocked down trees, snapped utility poles, damaged chimneys and blew shingles off houses in a concentrated area of town, said Bob Bohlmann, executive director of the York County Emergency Management Agency.

Some people reported seeing what appeared to be a tornado or funnel cloud, and some of the damaged debris was twisted, Bohlmann said.

The National Weather Service probably will send somebody to North Berwick on Saturday to investigate if the damage was caused by a tornado, said Art Lester, a meteorological technician with the weather service.

Somebody reported seeing a funnel cloud, he said, and clearly “something of a violent nature happened in North Berwick.”

“We don’t know if it was a tornado or not,” he said. “We won’t know until we go down there and investigate.”

There were widespread reports of downed trees and power lines as fast-moving bands of thunderstorms moved across the state Friday afternoon and evening, Lester said.