RUMFORD — Road crews struggling to fix the damage from Tropical Storm Irene were visited by Gov. Paul LePage on Monday morning.

Town Manager Carlo Puiia and Public Works Superintendent Andy Russell hoped to gain some empathy and assistance from LePage to fix damaged roads.

“Damages from the storm will impact the budget for the year,” Puiia said. “We have done well with our reserves but we may have to drop them to pay for the damages,” he said.

A culvert at Swain Road in Rumford had been replaced three weeks prior. That work washed away with Sunday’s storm, leaving town officials scrambling to look over the budget.

“Hopefully with LePage’s visit it will help us to apply for funds through FEMA,” Russell said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

LePage flew here by helicopter after first stopping in Carrabassett Valley where two state bridges on Route 27 had washed away.

The Sugarloaf area saw 8.5 inches of rain from the weekend storm, according to a release from the resort.

LePage said the damage in Carrabassett Valley was probably the most he had seen Monday. He also mentioned a landslide in the area where everything had washed off a hill, except for a house that now was hanging off the side of a newly formed cliff.

After the Carrabassett Valley stop, LePage landed in Dixfield at about 11 a.m. He was taken by a Maine Department of Transportation van to tour the areas hardest hit by winds and rain, with a small entourage of reporters in tow.

The governor was joined by Maine Emergency Management Agency Director Robert McAleer and Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt to assess the damage.

The governor made his first stop at the new bridge construction on Webb River in Dixfield. The bridge had not sustained any damage but the river feeds directly into the Androscoggin River and gave a view of the storm surge. 

Mike Kistner with the National Weather Service in Gray said the Androscoggin River peaked at 15.8 feet and had crested by early afternoon  Monday.

The weather service measures moderate flooding at 17 feet. The closest rain measurement in Andover showed a total of 6.20 inches for the storm.

LePage and his crew continued on through Rumford, viewing heavy damage on Spruce Street. Bean Brook swelled Sunday, flooding the street and destroying much of the pavement near Maine Avenue.

LePage also viewed a large crevasse on Swain Road and other washed areas on Isthmus Road, which leads to the Black Mountain of Maine ski area.

While the damage he saw Monday was extensive, he said, in a way, Maine was fortunate.

“It could have been worse, we could have lost a lot of lives and we didn’t,” LePage said. “These are just material things and we can fix them.”

ecox@sunjournal.com

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