By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Batten down the hatches!

“A pretty big bunch of wet” is headed our way, said National Weather Service meteorologist John Jensenius in Gray on Wednesday morning.

Flood watches that were posted Tuesday for all of southern and western Maine and most of New Hampshire are to continue through 6 p.m. today.

Rainfall that spread across the state from south to north Wednesday was expected to total 2 to 3 inches, with higher amounts possible in some locations, before ending today, according to a 4 p.m. Weather Service bulletin.

More showers and unsettled weather are predicted for Saturday afternoon into Sunday.

The Weather Service had posted river flood warnings for the Androscoggin at Rumford and Auburn, and the Carrabassett at North Anson, by 4 p.m. Wednesday. According to its bulletin, the Androscoggin River at Rumford was just over 9 feet by 2 p.m. Wednesday; flood stage is 15 feet. Minor flooding was forecast, with a crest of 15 feet by 8 p.m. today.

At 10:05 p.m., the weather service issued flood warnings for small rivers and streams in much of Maine, including Oxford, Franklin and Androscoggin counties.

“Flooding of lowland areas from Gilead to Bethel can be expected, with some road closures possible,” the 4 p.m. bulletin stated.

Dan Schorr, who is Oxford County’s Emergency Management Agency director, said Wednesday afternoon that due to the predicted heavy rains, he was expecting the worst to occur overnight and into this morning.

“Everybody’s been alerted up and down the river,” he said of emergency personnel.

The Androscoggin River near Auburn was at 10.4 feet at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Flood stage is 13 feet. The river was expected to rise above flood stage by 3 p.m. today, with minor flooding forecast and a crest of 16 feet by 8 a.m. Friday.

The Carrabassett River was at 6.9 feet by 2 p.m. Wednesday at North Anson. Flood stage there is 15 feet. Minor flooding is forecast, with a crest near 15 feet by 8 p.m. today, the bulletin stated.

Weather Service meteorologist James Brown said Wednesday that flooding along the Androscoggin could be more serious than it was last weekend.

“Water storages are full, so they’re going to have to let that go, and when they do, we’re going to get some flooding,” said Brown, who is also based in Gray.

Mark Hume, a regional engineer with the Maine Department of Transportation in Dixfield, agreed. He said Jordan D. Baker, a DOT highway crew supervisor in Moscow, reported that Wyman Dam at the head of the Kennebec River in Moscow opened all four of its floodgates on Wednesday for the first time since 1987.

“They’re expecting 5 inches up there,” Hume said.

Frank Hardy, Franklin County Emergency Management Agency director, said Wednesday afternoon that the Carrabassett and Sandy rivers had receded, “but are still high, which they would be anyway with all this rain.”

“A lot of our problems will depend on how much runoff they get from the mountains, because there is still snow up there,” Hardy said.

He expects problems not only along the rivers and streams from Farmington to Rangeley, but also with ponds and lakes.

“All these ponds are full, and they can’t hold any more, so right now, we’re in a wait-and-see-what-happens mode,” he added.

Hardy said sandbags were being stacked around Haley Pond on Tuesday in Rangeley to keep rising water from flowing across Route 4 and area roads.