Sun-Journal from Lewiston, Maine • 1

ft 35 Cents The Lewiston pryr i ki wst rrrygrrzcca'tajs LewktorhAuburn Maine Thursday April 2 1987 3 V- V- 1 'wS3sir -T- a 1 '-i 4 A I 1 't- i rT 7 S- 1 1 -1 v-' "Ar'su vf 71 4 7i-'xW Vv" 'i KennedyJournal photographer Thd Longley Bridge barely escapee the Androscoggin's flood waters In this aerial view looking toward Auburn 1 Governor flies over L-A Mark Hayward Journal reporter certain Accompanying him will be Transpora-tlon Commissioner Dana Copnors state Civil Emergency Preparedness Director David Brown Gen Ernest Park of the Maine National Guard and possibly federal disaster officials By Nan Alexander -and Michael Lopes Journal reporter AUBURN the Androscoggin River crested between 9 am and 10 am today with the highest water-level reading of 2368 Teet occurring at 9 am says the director of the Androscoggin County Bureau of Civil Emergency Preparedness twin Cities officials today expected Gov John McKeraan Jr to make a whirlwind visit to Lewiston-Auburn before moving on to other parts of the flood- Its 12 ra- IM a m- He nd XU nd or IM 3 Meanwhile state CEP officials sa lage fore tpe governor can request a disaster AUGUSTA While clals wait for flood waters fore beginning damage assessments Gov John McKeraan was scheduled to visit the Lewiston-Auburn area this afternoon to get a firsthand view of flood damage The governor will be touring central and western Maine by helicopter this afternoon said his mess spokesman Willis Lyford Delayed yesterday because of low cloud cover the helicopter flight was scheduled to leave Augusta at 11:30 am Stops were scheduled for Winslow at noon and Auburn at 1:30 pm The governor Lyford said will assess damage and what impact it has in emergency offi- rs to subside be- plajped state (embers declaration by the president The declaration would put Maine eraments and individuals in line for eral'grants and loans to repair the damage Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in Boston were on their way to Maine this morning CEP workers said See GbVERNOR page 12A Aerial view of Newbury Street area In Aubumi Bid KennadyJoumal 1 i Rivers pull no punches up north of- the Federal Emergency Management Agency were also expected to inspect the area but by late morning the worst of the flooding had pttucd- this point it looks like on the way Androscoggin CEP Director Peter Gagnon said of- the water leveL The flow rate also peaked at 9 am with a reading of 102000 cubic feet per second Gagnon said During a typical flood the level Of flood water decreases gradually crests and then declines steeply Gagnon said This flood was different because the water level increased very quickly and Will probably decline gradually' in a reverse of the normal pattern he said not going to allow people to go back (to flooded homes) until they can walk said Returning to a flooded By Glenii Adams Associated Press Writer homes and hospitals in hart-hit areas said Col Earl Adams Unarmed troops patrolled downtown Augusta on Wednesday night keep an eye on the stores" which were flooded and without power he said State civil-defense officials See NORTH page 12A homes were torahff their foundations by the raging waters and sent down the Kennebec The historic Fort Halifax stockade built in 1754 was also swept downstream Authorities continued evacuating people from towns areas along northern Penobscot River which continued swelling beyond flood stage this morning said Penobscot County civil-defense director Peter Buchanan Meanwhile 4000 Central Maine Power Co customers in a half-dozen communities remained without electrity as CMP cut service in sections where substations were inundated a spokesman said Phone service was also affected for hundreds of New England Telephone Co customers The National Guard dispatched a half-dozen 500-gallon tanks of potable water to nursing While flood waters started to recede in the hardest-hit sections of the state officials shopkeep ers and homeowners-oegan counting the homeless and taking stock of damages from the worst flood on record in Maine Water was up to the roofs of dozens of houses garages and stores while scores of people rode above flooded streets in boats Lumber fuel tanks and debris bobbed freely in some areas In western Maine a farmer lost more than a dozen cows that drowned when the Sandy River flooded The devastation appeared to be wont alone the Kennebec River where the flood was described as 500 year by National Weather Service hydrologist Jerry French Winslow police said three liome in a boat is dangerous he said Residents be able to return tonight: he said but when the waters will recede enough to -allow residents to walk back on dry ground was stfll unknown this morning It was also too soon to assess flood damage in Androscoggin County Gagnon said Losses aue to the flood even as Might as an -See FLOOD page S2A Bob Vallee raws down Lincoln Street In Lewiston with Rene and Donne GobeM wbHoMoe Caron wetcheo from Mo porch The boettfs wore on their way to eeo If they ceuM get Into tho top Boors of thob busfnoos I A-Toom Drywell) to get at the payroll Rust DfUinghem Journal Mb- CjRt.