Drenched again Deadly nor’easter brings high winds statewide, snow in northwest

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A powerful nor’easter that gained moisture from Hurricane Wilma blasted Maine on Tuesday afternoon and evening, renewing flood threats for small rivers and streams, knocking out electricity and dumping wet snow in the western mountains and sleet in other areas.

The storm was blamed for at least one death after a driver skidded off a slush-covered bridge on the Kennebec Road in Dixmont, landing upside down in a swollen stream.

Emergency crews responded to reports of several other accidents in central and eastern Maine throughout the evening as motorists encountered slick roads.

“It’s going to be a treacherous night,” Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross predicted in the late afternoon.

Katherine Weber, 51, of Dixmont was killed when her vehicle slid off a bridge in her hometown and became submerged in the frigid, rushing stream below. Rescue crews discovered the overturned vehicle just after 5 p.m. as they responded to another call and found the vehicle being sucked into a culvert below the bridge, officials said.

In addition to the slippery conditions, no guardrail was installed along the bridge on the state-owned Kennebec Road.

Crews were able to attach a towline to the vehicle to prevent it from moving farther downstream, but the woman was dead upon their arrival, officials said.

“We’re searching the stream for any other possible occupants of the vehicle,” Chief Deputy Troy Morton of the Penobscot County’s Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday night. No other occupants were found even though debris inside the vehicle led police to believe another person may have been in the car.

Flashing lights from emergency vehicles and beams of light from hand-held flashlights illuminated the scene at 6:15 p.m. as crews pulled Weber from the car. After being covered with a sheet, her body was pulled up a steep embankment and put into a waiting ambulance.

Crews from Dixmont, Etna, Hampden, Carmel, the Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service and the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department were at the scene. Rescue personnel lined the road along the swelling stream as sleet, rain and wind continued into the night.

Weber had worked for more than five years as the city of Bangor’s planning officer before resigning last February to take a similar job at Husson College. As campus planner, Weber helped coordinate and oversee capital improvement projects.

Flood watch posted

A flood watch was posted Tuesday for the entire state, along with high wind warnings statewide, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Joseph Hewitt.

“There have been no reports of flooding yet, but a lot of times with heavy rain, streams respond after the main flux,” Hewitt said early Tuesday afternoon.

The weather service also posted a winter storm watch for western and northwest Maine. As much as 10 inches of snow could fall in some spots by this morning, Hewitt predicted.

“The last time we had heavy snow like this in October was 2001,” he said.

In the Bangor area and toward the coast, the expected precipitation was rain, where another 1.5-2 inches were forecast to be added to already record rainfall amounts.

Some of that rain turned to sleet by late afternoon, forcing road crews into action. A handful of motor vehicle accidents were reported by midafternoon.

“We’ve got trucks on the interstate, on Route 2 and Route 9 so far,” Randy Gray of the state Department of Transportation’s Bangor office said at about 4 p.m. “In most places it’s just slushy, but we’re applying some salt to make sure it doesn’t stick.”

October already has had record precipitation statewide. Bangor’s average rainfall for the month is about 3 inches. Before the current storm, Bangor already had 10.8 inches. Rainfall in Millinocket is at 8.2 inches for October, up more than 5 inches from the average. Totals are less to the north, but even Caribou’s total of 5.7 inches is well above the average.

In the midcoast, the state suspended ferry service between Rockland and Vinalhaven and North Haven on Tuesday afternoon.

The storm, which blasted into the Gulf of Maine on Tuesday morning, started to change gradually as the day went on, with torrential rain and winds diminishing as the storm tracked to the north.

With all the rain in recent weeks, some state officials said the snow was welcome.

“In terms of flooding, snow is good news,” said Lynette Miller of the Maine Emergency Management Agency. “The DOT said [Tuesday afternoon] that they had plowable snow in Jackman and Rangeley. The biggest issue will be people having driving problems.”

Folks in northern Piscataquis County were taking the early snow in stride.

“This is Jackman. We have seen snow every month of the year,” a U.S. Customs agent at the Jackman border crossing said.

Somerset County was expecting 3-4 inches of snow in the foothills and possibly up to 10 inches in higher elevations, from Bingham north.

Somerset County Communications Center had received no reports of motor vehicle accidents or flooding by midafternoon.

The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department said three minor accidents were reported from Shirley north to Greenville late Tuesday afternoon. A mixture of rain and snow made the roads slippery, according to a dispatcher.

Farther south in New Hampshire, meteorologists at the Mount Washington Observatory measured 100 mph winds and near-blizzard conditions.

“It’s going pretty crazy out here,” said Tim Markle, the observatory’s chief meteorologist, who said it was 22 degrees Fahrenheit at the peak, zero degrees factoring for wind chill.

The storm also caused delays for air travelers, canceling and delaying flights in and out of Portland and Manchester, N.H.

At Bangor International Airport, two flights were canceled Tuesday afternoon, and airport officials were anticipating delays of incoming flights throughout the afternoon and evening.

Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. reported about 815 customers without power as of 9:30 p.m. and Central Maine Power Co. reported a little more than 7,000 in the dark as of 8:30 p.m.

In Eastport, U.S. Coast Guard officials said that although seas were around 12 feet off Jonesport, they were not expected to go higher because of Eastport’s location near Campobello Island, which acts as a buffer for that community.

In Rockland, many fishermen had hauled their boats out of the harbor in anticipation of strong, gusty winds and flooding at high tide, Assistant Harbor Master Pete Thibodeau said around noon Tuesday. A few boats that remained on moorings rocked and rolled in choppy seas inside the breakwater.

While the remainder of the state was being drenched with rain and buffet by wind on the weekend, the St. John Valley was quiet. There was no rain there on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.