This story will be updated.
It appeared that several western Maine communities were hit hard by flooding on Tuesday morning after heavy rains from Monday’s storm combined with snow melt to raise local river levels.
The town of Farmington was blocked off by rising flood waters, the fire department warned in a Facebook post at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
“Citizens are to avoid attempts to travel east-west or north-south [through] town,” it warned. Waters “are estimated to continue to rise [through] the night, not subsiding until later on Tuesday afternoon.”
The department said that residents threatened by the rising waters could seek shelter at the recreation center of St. Joseph Parish, at the corner of Middle and Quebec streets.
Multiple roads into downtown Bethel — near the Sunday River ski resort in Newry — were underwater and unpassable as of 8 a.m. Tuesday. The flooding occurred in multiple sections of Route 2 and Route 26 near the Androscoggin River. The waters also swamped some local businesses, and power was out in the downtown area.
“Road conditions are NOT good,” a local official wrote on the town’s Facebook page. “I would strongly suggest to call ahead before venturing out to appointments.”
