Several flooded roads and bridges across southern Maine remained closed Monday night after a three-day storm dumped more than 8 inches of rain on some parts of the state.
The storm that began Saturday morning brought Portland more than twice as much rain as it normally gets for all of June, said meteorologist Jim Brown. “It’s almost like getting the entire summer’s rain in a couple of days,” he said.
Additional Photos
The National Weather Service in Gray said Monday night that the worst of the deluge is over, but scattered showers are expected for a few more days.
As the rain pushed rivers over their banks, the Maine Department of Transportation closed several flooded roads and bridges, including the Lambert Street Bridge on Blackstrap Road in Falmouth.
Ted Talbot, a spokesman for the department, said the bridge, which handles about 5,000 vehicles daily, will be closed for at least another two or three days.
He said transportation department crews must be able to look under the bridge at its piers before it can reopen. A raging current and debris in the Presumpscot River prevented them from inspecting the piers Monday.
The list of closures spanned the area, including the Swetts Bridge in Alfred, Route 231 in New Gloucester and Route 136 in Durham. The Route 9 bridge in North Yarmouth reopened Monday afternoon after being closed for several hours.
“Some parts of the state got more than seven inches of rain. When it comes down that fast and that heavy, there’s not much we can do,” Talbot said.
The weather service said three-day rainfall totals varied widely by location.
Auburn and Bridgton each got more than 8 inches, while Portland’s Deering neighborhood recorded 6.68 inches. Saco got just over 6 inches of rain, Boothbay got 7.35 inches and Bath was one of the hardest-hit places, with 8.14 inches.
A small shopping plaza off State Road in Bath was transformed into a small pond. Witnesses reported seeing one person paddling a boat around the parking lot in front of VIP Auto Parts and the Family Dollar store.
J.J. Lee, VIP’s general manager, said he hopes to reopen his store next Monday.
“We are sitting in a little bowl. The drainage system can only take so much water,” Lee said. “This is a reminder of just how powerful Mother Nature can be.”
Much of the water went into the VIP store; about 8 inches of standing water was inside, Lee said. A professional cleaner will be hired to remove the water.
Lee’s employees were temporarily reassigned to VIP stores in Topsham and Brunswick.
In neighboring Brunswick, the town shut down the Androscoggin River Bike Path. The popular walking and jogging path runs along the river, which overflowed its banks. That section of the river, below Brunswick’s hydropower dam, is also subject to tidal changes.
Tom Farrell, Brunswick’s recreation director, said the middle section of the 2.4-mile pathway was under water and barricaded.
The Yarmouth Boat Yard on the Royal River also got damaged by the storm. Steve Arnold, who owns the boat yard, said he lost one dock and two boats got damaged.
Arnold said the Royal River, which winds through the countryside before surging down through Yarmouth to the ocean, was choked with trees, roots, beaver dams and debris.
“I’ve never seen it like this before,” Arnold said. “It was angry. The water gods were not happy.”
In Mechanic Falls, the fire department used a rescue boat to retrieve a woman, her 2-year-old daughter, a dog and a cat from their home after the driveway flooded, leaving the house surrounded by water.
The family was trapped but not in any danger, said Assistant Fire Chief Don Boyd.
The arrival of the first major cruise ship this season in Portland was delayed because of the weather.
The Carnival Glory, carrying more than 3,000 passengers and more than 1,000 crew members, will arrive today.
Portland’s spokeswoman, Nicole Clegg, said the storm created hazardous sailing conditions so the ship spent an extra day in the Port of Boston.
“It’s a combination … of sailing overnight and the weather we had and spending a rainy day in Portland,” Clegg said. One or two ships typically change their schedules each season, she said.
The ship is due in Portland at 8 a.m. It will head to St. John, New Brunswick, at 6 p.m.
A full accounting of the damage statewide won’t be made until waters recede and local and state crews can assess the damage in the coming days, said Lynette Miller, spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency.
“It certainly could have been much worse,” she said. “What we’re hoping is there won’t be a lot of damage once the water goes down.”
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.