AUBURN — Mother Nature’s weekend wallop continued Monday night after the swollen Little Androscoggin River forced officials to close the bridge on Washington Street North.
As of late Monday, the road was closed to traffic until further notice because a bridge just north of Chasse Street in the 1000 block of Washington Street was flooded by the Little Androscoggin River. Northbound traffic was diverted onto Hackett Road and a sign on the turnpike urged motorists to use the Lewiston exit. Truck traffic has been diverted to Kittyhawk Avenue and Hotel Road into Auburn.
The bridge closure was just one of dozens of areas affected throughout the day as motorists were advised to find alternative routes because of several road closings around the region due to the rain.
According to the National Weather Service, a total of 8.14 inches of rain has fallen in Auburn since Saturday morning, with lesser amounts reported inland. As of Monday afternoon, Durham — which saw the closure of Route 136 due to high water — reported 7.53 inches.
In Lewiston, the River Road was closed from just after the Solid Waste Facility until Ferry Road due to water over the road.
Throughout the day, emergency crews around the region were busy helping residents with everything from pumping water out of basements to evacuating them from homes surrounded by water.
Emergency crews in Mechanic Falls were among those busy with welfare checks and evacuations much of Monday. A woman, her 2-year-old daughter and their cat and dog were rescued from their home Monday morning when floodwaters from the Little Androscoggin rose to their home.
Mechanic Falls Fire Chief Fred Sturtevant said rescue crews used a boat to remove Chelsea Roberts and her daughter and pets from her home. The family was taken to safety. Roberts and her family were the only ones actually transported away from a flooded home, but members of Sturtevant’s department spent much of Monday checking on other residents flooded in by the rising waters.
Most decided to wait out the storm.
“It’s funny how it hit this area,” Sturtevant said. “It was kind of different. It should have crested by now. The river seems to be holding pretty steady.”
Scott Giguere, who lives on Gulf Island Road off Switzerland Road along Androscoggin River, said Monday that Lewiston’s Public Works crews shut down Switzerland Road just past the cemetery.
“The water is over the road, 8 to 10 inches. It’s the first time the river has come up over the road in 23 years,” he said. “The only way out for us is Deer Road, through the woods. You need a four-wheel drive for that. It’s rough. But it is passable.”
Giguere said the city closed the road around 10 am.
He called the weather “pretty incredible. We’ve had 7.6 inches of rain right in the few days. This is far worst than last time we had a hurricane on Aug. 29.”
There are multiple road closures in Androscoggin County, including part of College Road in Greene and part of Route 136 in Durham.
Also closed is part of Death Valley Road in Minot and part of County Road in Turner. Also in Turner, Wilson Hill Road is closed for a washout.
In Franklin County, where the NWS is reporting 5 inches of rain, Pond Road at Route 2 in Wilton is among several roads that have been closed.
In Oxford County, the bridge at Route 118 in Waterford is closed due to high water, and Greenwood Road in Greenwood is closed. The Milton Road Bridge in Rumford is closed and several roads in Buckfield are closed. According to the NWS, there is a flash flood warning in Buckfield.
MDOT spokesman Mark Hume, in Dixfield, said statewide, the state came out pretty well despite the heavy downpours during the past few days.
“It will keep the maintenance crews busy repairing shoulders of roads,” he said.
In the greater Rumford-Mexico area, high water was reported along parts of Route 140 in Canton.
Hume said motorists were advised to take alternative routes whenever possible, but water crossing portions of Route 140 was already receding by early afternoon on Monday.
A bridge along the South Rumford Road was temporarily closed on Sunday, Hume said.
Mexico firefighter Paul Cayer said the Mexico Fire Department had pumped out three cellars by mid-day on Monday, but no other water-related emergencies were reported.
Rumford Deputy Chief Ben Byam said a portion of Route 232 was temporarily closed on Sunday, but is open again.
View June 4, 2012 Road Closures in a larger map
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