Flooding is causing problems in several cities and towns along the Androscoggin River. Residents of Lewiston and Auburn are being asked to evacuate their homes on several low-lying streets. And in the town of Canton in western Maine nearly 100 residents were put on buses and sent to a shelter at the high school in Jay because of high water from the river and an adjacent brook.
"And it's almost up to the nursing home and we can't allow it - then you would run into all kinds of electrical problems and power problems and all that. So, for the safety of the residents, we evacuated," said Ken Huhn, the administrator for Pinnacle Health and Rehab.
17-year-old Jocelynn Ridley said she had to be evacuated by boat from her home in Canton on Tuesday morning.
"I got out of work last night at 7:30 and it wasn't raining. And then I went to bed because I was supposed to be at work this morning at 6:30," Ridley said. "And I got up and I opened my door and there was water (right up to the door)."
Ridley works nearby at the nursing home whose 96 residents were also evacuated after the river rose to just a few yards from the main entrance.
Huhn said Spruce Mountain High School accommodated the entire nursing home on short notice when another option fell through. Residents are sleeping on cots and being served meals in the school cafeteria by nursing home staff who Huhn said also rose to the occasion. He's not sure how long they'll be displaced.
The Androscoggin River is expected to crest at noon on Wednesday.
