According to Reading Municipal Light Department Operations Manager Kevin Sullivan, a total of 5,500 residents in the company’s four-town coverage area lost power on Wednesday as a result of various incidents from afternoon thunderstorms.

In Wilmington, about 1,000 customers experienced outages due to downed wires on Main Street and Shawsheen Ave. As a result, other residents in the area of Burlington Ave., Boutwell Street, Butter’s Row and Chestnut Street also were in the dark.

“This weather event brought with it significant lightning strikes resulting in wires down in many areas,” said Sullivan, who said power was restored to about 3,000 customers by mid-afternoon. “The resultant damage, entirely caused by lightning, left trees toppled, roads flooded and traffic signals without power.”

Despite the efforts of crews working throughout the afternoon, several hundred Wilmington residents were without power into the evening hours.

But thanks to a final push in the late night hours, RMLD restored 100 percent power throughout town.

“RMLD line crews and engineers worked late into the night to restore all customers in the four towns,” said Sullivan.