FARMINGTON – University officials have locked the gate at the Prescott Field parking lot where 39 vehicles were partially submerged in water Friday. The lot off Front Street that serves students is scheduled to remain closed for the rest of the school year.

The Sandy River quickly rose over its banks between 4:30 and 6:15 a.m. Friday after ice chunks jammed the river in Farmington. It flooded the lot, portions of Front Street and the Intervale.

University of Maine at Farmington officials have asked an insurance adjuster from the University of Maine System to meet with staff and students Tuesday.

University officials are trying to determine who is financially responsible for the damage to vehicles, said university spokesman Tom Donaghue.

Flooding is considered an act of nature.

Students were alerted Friday that their vehicles in that lot were stranded. Water was as high as the door handles of some of their vehicles.

University officials worked over the weekend to try to get things resolved, Donaghue said.

The university is offering students academic help and free transportation home. Officials are also talking to the university’s Financial Aid Office and Business Office to see what can be done to help students financially, he said.

All but nine of the vehicles were towed to a campus lot. The remaining vehicles, mostly at owners’ requests, were left until Saturday so they wouldn’t have to be dragged through water, Donaghue said.

On Saturday, a new access way was plowed in order to get the remaining vehicles towed out, Donaghue said.

Farmington Towing Co. offered to haul two of the vehicles, which had the least amount of damage, to its garage to dry out free of charge.

Johanna Swears, whose Explorer had water halfway up its tires, said Monday her vehicle “suffered from some damp carpeting in the back-seat area.”

Swears said a Farmington Towing representative towed her vehicle Saturday and then checked the engine and drained the fluids free of charge.

Together at last

“I pick (the Explorer) up today for what promises to be a very happy reunion at 4,” Swears wrote in an e-mail.

The company representative said the engine “looks perfectly fine,” and all the electronics are functioning, she added.

“I was probably the only one who escaped the flood so fully,” she stated.

Some students and parents opted to have their vehicles towed to their own garages, Donaghue said.

The community is also helping. A university alumna offered her heated two-bay garage to help dry out a couple vehicles, he said.

Greg Languet, owner of Chariot Limousine Service in Waterville, offered free transportation home to students who live in Maine and rides to the airport or bus terminal to students who live out of state.

The Prescott Field lot won’t be used for the winter or spring session, Donaghue said.

“We’re going to look at what, if anything, we’ll use it for in the future,” he said.

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