Northeast storm: Maine police searching for 2 missing people swept away in floodwaters
Maine police are searching for two people who went missing after their car was swept away in floodwaters during the powerful storm that pummeled the Northeast on Monday.
The incident unfolded just before 5 p.m. Monday on Route 2 in Mexico, which is about 75 miles north of Portland, the Maine State Police said.
Four people were in the car when it was swept into the Swift River's rising floodwaters, police said.
Three people escaped from the car, and two of them were rescued, police said. The third person who escaped the car, as well as the fourth person who remained in the car, are missing, police said.
The two rescued people were hospitalized to be treated for hypothermia, police said. Their conditions were not immediately clear.
Police said multiple roads in Mexico remain closed and some residential areas are completely closed off. Police said boats have been deployed to help trapped residents.
Police urged the public "to respect road closures and to avoid entering into flooded roadways."
Maine Gov. Janet Mills declared a state of emergency for 14 counties in the wake of the flooding.
At least five people died on Monday when the massive storm hammered the Northeast.
In upstate Greene County, New York, a driver died after their car was swept away in floodwaters, according to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
In Windham, Maine, a man was struck and killed by a tree while he was on his roof trying to remove debris, Windham police said.
In Plymouth County, Massachusetts, an 89-year-old man was killed by a fallen tree that trapped him in a trailer, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
Two other deaths were reported in Fairfield, Maine, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, according to The Associated Press.
The storm first hit the South on Sunday, and a sixth death was attributed to the storm in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, near Charleston, according to the AP.
Click here for what you need to know if you're in a car during a flash flood.
