© Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Staff photo by Jill Brady
A motorist tries to cross the flooded intersection of Seaside Avenue and Ferry Road in the Camp Ellis neighborhood of Saco on Patriot's Day. Representatives of Maine's congressional delegation attended an emergency meeting of the Saco Shoreline Commission in Camp Ellis on Tuesday.
Portions of northern New England faced a renewed threat of spring flooding Tuesday, even as the fire danger remained high.
Record-high temperatures were expected to speed snowmelt across the region, causing water levels to rise in Maine's Kennebec River and elsewhere.
The National Weather Service posted a flood warning along the Kennebec at Skowhegan, where the river flowage was expected to reach nearly 45,000 cubic feet per second -- 10,000 cubic feet per second above flood stage.
Minor flooding was anticipated before the river drops below flood stage.
Forecasters also posted a flood advisory for the St. John River at Dickey because of ice movement and issued an alert about ice movement on the Allagash.
Other areas cited by the weather service included the Mattawamkeag River at Mattawamkeag and the Sebasticook River in Pittsfield.
In Vermont, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the area around Lake Champlain. Spring runoff pushed the lake level to about the 100-foot flood stage, said meteorologist Maureen Breitbach.
The current forecast calls for the lake to peak at 100.7 feet today. Serious flooding doesn't occur until the lake reaches 101 feet, Breitbach said.
The spike in temperatures set records Monday across Maine. Bangor recorded a high of 83 degrees while Portland hit 81, Millinocket 80 and Houlton 79.
Warnings of fire danger continued into Tuesday amid warm, dry weather, brisk winds and low humidity.
On Monday, Maine's 10th wildfire in three days burned nearly 14 acres near Schoodic Lake in Columbia after Cherryfield Foods reported that a blueberry burn got out of control. No buildings were threatened, and no injuries were reported.
Gov. John Baldacci lifted the state of emergency he imposed more than a week ago in response to the April 16 nor'easter that caused at least $30 million in damage to public property and left some 128,000 homes and businesses in the dark.
The last storm-related outages were repaired Saturday.
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