AUBURN, Maine — The Androscoggin River raged between Lewiston and Auburn on Wednesday morning, flooding some homes and drawing gawkers as it rushed over Great Falls at more than 76,000,000 cubic feet per second.
The worst is over and the Androscoggin River should continue to drop in the coming week after cresting in the wee hours of the morning, according to the National Weather Service.
The flow came a day after a powerful wind and rainstorm knocked out power to thousands of Maine homes and submerged portions of several downtowns, including Rumford, Farmington and Augusta.
On Auburn’s Newbury Street, a row of houses and vehicles were under several feet of water Wednesday morning. Nearby, two breakfast diners were operating as normal.
In Lewiston, the river flowed through low-lying Heritage Park, putting displayed military vehicles underwater. Likewise, water churned around a row of memorial tablets resembling tombstones. The iconic Lewiston sign remained dry atop its pedestal, however.
Preliminary findings by the National Weather Service indicate the river reached a flood stage of about 19 feet above normal. That mark is higher than recent floods but shy of historic ones including 1987’s 23-foot mark and 1936’s 27-foot mark.
