Icy rain makes travel tricky
By Eileen M. Adams
Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Steady rain followed by freezing made foot and vehicular traffic dangerous all day Wednesday.

Several schools closed in the northern Oxford County area, with others canceling after school activities. Many municipal meetings were canceled or postponed.

Some people were concerned with the potential for flooding late Wednesday or Thursday morning. Ice jams were reported at Rumford Point and Canton Point.

SAD 43 Superintendent Jim Hodgkin said he made the decision to send children home at 1 p.m. so they could get home while it was still daylight. He’s also concerned about Thursday’s early morning bus runs on roads near or affected by the Swift and Androscoggin rivers.

“If there’s torrential rain, that could cause flooding,” he said.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning Wednesday.

After school activities and events were canceled in SAD 43, along with those in SADs 21 and 44. The latter two districts kept school open until the end of the day, however. Adult education classes at the Region 9 School of Applied Technology were canceled for Wednesday night.

At Canton Elementary School, which is part of the SAD 21 district, building and grounds personnel were busy moving items out of the basement, said a SAD 21 spokeswoman. Located on the Androscoggin River floodplain, the school is seen as threatened. Many items in the basement were lost during a flood in 1987, the spokeswoman said.

The Mexico town office and library closed at 1 p.m. Dixfield’s town office closed at 3 p.m. because of the icy roads, but Rumford’s municipal building remained open.

In Mexico, a scheduled Citizens Advisory Board meeting was canceled. It will be rescheduled soon in January.

Peru’s Comprehensive Plan Committee meeting was postponed until 6 p.m. Thursday.

Rumford Town Manager Robert Welch said his crew plans to keep watch on the ice jam situation. If it looks like a jam followed by flooding is about to happen, he said police and fire departments will notify people.

Those with emergencies can reach help by dialing 911.

“We’ve moved many people along Route 2 over the years because of ice jams,” he said.

He’s more concerned with possible low-area flooding in the downtown area because of clogged catch basins. He said the public works crew has been busy sanding and salting sidewalks and roads and trying to keep catch basins clear.

Those in the Hancock Street and Strathglass Park areas are the most apt to clog, he said.

“We’ll do what we have to do,” he said.

eadams@sunjournal.com

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