Unseasonably warm temperatures earlier this week caused an early breakup of ice on the Kennebec River, causing minor flooding in low-lying areas
Unseasonably warm temperatures earlier this week caused an early breakup of ice on the Kennebec River, causing minor flooding in low-lying areas
The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the Kennebec River in Augusta due to an ice jam.

The flood warning is in effect until 3:30 p.m.

At 10:23 a.m. Wednesday an ice jam formed quickly on the river, causing it to rise to 13.2 feet.

The river was at 14 feet as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and was expected to fall slowly.

At 5:30 a.m. Thursday the river was at 12.25 ft in Augusta, prompting the National Weather Service to extend the flood warning into the afternoon. Flood stage is 12 ft.



Augusta police said on its Facebook page at about 10 a.m. that the river was rising and flooding the Front Street parking lot. Front Street was closed.

People came by to take pictures and stare at the ice jam all day Wednesday, but employees in the building along the river had no time to watch because there were only a few minutes to move.

A woman sprinted through the water this morning, rushing to save her car from fast-moving water.

"She went to close her vehicle and she couldn't close her door because the water was rushing in, and the big chunks of ice," said Colleen Tyler, owner of Vickery Café.

The woman got out just in time in the last of the cars to move from the path of the ice jam.

"Something happened, and it all backed up, and by 9:30 there's water in the parking lot," said Dave Groder of the Augusta Fire Department.

Ice on river
© Christopher Cousins | BDN
Rain and warm weather over the last few days helped create a jam earlier than usual.

"As far as in February, having it jam up like this, I don't recall it," Groder said.

Deidra Consteanty said it's been quite a while since she's seen a jam this early, too.

"I'm watching, and the water's coming up a little big, a little bit more, and it's like, 'OK, it's time to call these people,'" Consteanty said.

"You just watched it, and you couldn't say anything because you were just fascinated by watching it and the power of nature," Tyler said.

The warm weather, rain and to a smaller extent, the high tide forced the closure of Front Street for the night, officials said.

The rising tide could redistribute some of the ice, making the situation worse or loosening the jam.