LUDLOW, Maine — A large pool of standing water that accumulated from melting snow caused a pair of accidents that reduced a section of Interstate 95 to one lane for more than an hour and a half on Wednesday.
The first crash took place about 1:15 p.m. when Lisa Condon, 49, of Houlton, who was southbound on I-95 in her 2014 Jeep, drove into a pool of water, according to Maine State Police Trooper Chuck Michaud.
Condon’s Jeep hydroplaned, careened off the interstate, rolled over and came to rest upside down in deep snow over an embankment, Michaud said in a press release issued late Wednesday afternoon.
Condon used her cellphone to call 911 and give directions to her location while still trapped inside the vehicle hanging from her seat belt upside down, according to Michaud.
Moments later, 55-year-old Holly McNally of Sherman lost control of her 2000 Chevrolet sedan in the same pool of standing water, according to Michaud. The vehicle skidded out of control and went off into the median, coming to rest on top of an embankment of snow, he said.
After members of the Houlton Fire Department and Ambulance Service helped free Condon from her vehicle, she was taken to Houlton Regional Hospital with what appeared to be injuries that were not life threatening, according to Michaud.
The trooper said that the Jeep she was driving was towed.
McNally was not injured in the second accident, but her vehicle also had to be towed, Michaud said.
Both occupants were wearing seat belts, according to the trooper.
The southbound section of I-95 was reduced to one lane while the crash scenes were cleared and a Maine Department of Transportation crew plowed back the banks of snow, which allowed the water to drain off the roadway.
Michaud said police urge motorists to reduce speed and be prepared for rapidly changing road conditions during this time of year with higher day temperatures causing snow to melt, which often freezes quickly once the temperatures drop in the evening and the sun sets.