Storm Leaves Thousands Without Power For Hours

Update 2:55 p.m.
According to a Riviera Utilities spokesman, power was restored at 2:45 p.m.

1:00 p.m.
A Riviera Utilities spokesman confirms that lightning is to blame for knocking out power.

The lightning strike split one of the lines near Lillian, but there seems to be a bigger problem. According to Riviera, a crew truck is stuck in a boggy area where the line is located. The company sent a bulldozer to help get the truck out, but then the bulldozer got stuck.

The spokesman says they are continuing their efforts in restoring the line and power will hopefully be restored shortly.

10:35 a.m.
Power crews are working to restore power in Lillian after a possible lightning strike put thousands of customers in the dark.

A spokesman with Riviera Utilities estimates that close to 3500 residents in the Lillian area are without power.

Riviera estimates the outage occurred around 6:30 Sunday morning. It is believed a possible lightning strike hit one of their lines running from Seminole to the Lillian area - that's a 17-mile stretch.

Grounds saturated from Saturday's heavy rains have made it difficult for crews to get to the problem, Riviera says, but they estimate power to be restored shortly.