ORONO, Maine — While parts of the state were still dealing with flooding and road damage caused by several inches of rain this week, Mainers on Wednesday saw snowfall ranging from a dusting in Bass Harbor to 8 inches in Topsfield.
Conditions made for slick driving, which caused numerous accidents, including two in Waldo County in which three people were killed after drivers lost control of their vehicles (Story on Page A1).
“It’s like driving on a bar of soap,” one school bus driver in Washington County was overheard relaying by radio to his home base in the morning. Short delays were posted for several schools in the county.
While water in many rivers and streams was receding by Wednesday night, flood warnings from the National Weather Service remained in effect for the Mattawamkeag River in the Mattawamkeag area and the Kennebec River in the Skowhegan and Augusta areas.
While the Saint Croix River in northern Washington County was receding, the weather service office in Caribou issued an advisory alerting that “high flows continue, leading to minor flooding along the river. The port of entry in Calais has been closed as the road leading to the office remains flooded.”
Weather service meteorologists said colder temperatures expected Wednesday night through Friday “will lead to an improvement in conditions.”
The rising Stillwater River in Orono forced University of Maine officials to close the steam plant parking lot and notify students to move their vehicles Wednesday morning as water spilled over the banks.
“It’s a precaution,” Alan Stormann, UMaine’s assistant director of parking, transportation and security, said Wednesday morning. “We’re asking people to move their vehicles out of the steam plant parking lot. We are expecting the river to rise another 8 to 10 inches.”
The river crested by midafternoon, Tom Robertson, director of the Penobscot County Emergency Management Agency, said late Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s been going back down,” he said, adding that barring any more rain or snow, water levels should continue to decline over the next day or two.
Snowfall in Aroostook County on Wednesday ranged from a low of half an inch in Van Buren to 7 inches in Sherman, with most of The County getting between 4 and 7 inches, according to weather service meteorologist Richard Norton in Caribou.
Washington County generally saw 3 to 5 inches of snow, though 8 inches fell on Topsfield. Between 2 and 3.5 inches fell on Penobscot County, with Bangor recording 3.5 inches. Piscataquis, Hancock, Waldo and Knox counties received 1 to 3 inches.
The snow-coated roads made for slippery driving.
In Winn in Penobscot County early Wednesday afternoon, a car driven by a 69-year-old resident went off U.S. Route 2 about a quarter-mile past the Lincoln town line and went end over end down a slight embankment. The man was bleeding from his head but was able to crawl out of the car, Maine State Police Trooper Lawrence Anderson said.
The man was taken by ambulance to Penobscot Valley Hospital, where he was treated and later released.
Lincoln and East Millinocket police and firefighters reported slippery conditions but no serious accidents.
Only one car crash was reported before noon in Washington County. A single-vehicle crash in Harrington sent two people to Down East Community Hospital in Machias with injuries that were not life-threatening.
At the University of Maine on Wednesday morning, the rising waters breached the river’s shore before 11 a.m. and a dozen or so cars were towed from the parking lot. Students, some in pajamas, raced to move their cars before the floodwaters reached the vehicles.
Sophomore Ashley Kolofsky, who is studying zoology and marine science, had parked her car in the first row of the steam plant parking lot, directly beside the river.
“I was worried my car was one of the ones towed,” she said as she used an ice scraper to remove snow from her car before moving it.
Emergency management officials also continued to monitor the Penobscot River after it reached a reading of 8.6 feet at midnight Tuesday. Flood stage for the Penobscot River is 11 feet, 6 inches.
Robertson, of the Penobscot County EMA, said the river was at 6.5 feet by noon Wednesday and returning to more normal levels for the season.
Bangor Daily News writers Sharon Mack, Nick Sambides Jr., Dawn Gagnon and Diana Bowley contributed to this report.