(NECN: Josh Brogadir, Worcester, Mass.) - First the thunder.
Then the lightning.
And soon after - the rain.
And did it ever come down hard at the intersection of James and Stafford Streets in southwest Worcester around quarter past five, flowing downhill as people took cover in a tornado warning.
With the storm came a lightning strike that hit the Webster Square sub station, knocking out power to 36,000 National Grid customers at its peak.
Traffic lights were out and businesses were out of luck.
"We completely lost power. I looked out and saw you guys and saw the flooding going down the street," said Karen Johnson at Eddy's Flooring America.
Local
Firefighters responded to Webster Square Tower where several residents sat outside.
In downtown Worcester, the storm rained on gubernatorial candidate Tim Cahill's political parade.
The state treasurer had a town hall meeting planned for Mechanics Hall in Worcester.
Thanks to the storm, that never happened.
"We lost our air conditioning and we lost our lights and we had to postpone the event so unfortunately for us things didn't work out. But luckily (there were) no accidents, no fatalities. We did have one man stuck in the elevator but fortunately he got out after 45 minutes," Cahill said.
Witnesses say a man was also trapped in an elevator in the Day building across the street.
He was in there for 45 minutes, but then got out ok.
