Kennebec River Under Ice

Saturday I was relieved to find my favorite Chinese restaurant open. It sits on the banks of the Kennebec River in Hallowell, and the Kennebec had two days of severe flooding due to an ice jam downriver below Gardiner.

The Kennebec is a tidal river, fresh and saltwater. It rises and ebbs with the tides. We had a LOT of rain and warm temps last week that melted a lot of the snowpack and broke up some of that river ice, which then flowed downstream and jammed up against a bridge.

Now when the tide wants to go out, it meets an ice dam nearly twenty feet thick, so the water backs up upstream, depositing ice floes in riverfront basements.

This weekend we had an arctic blast, and the coast guard, four icebreakers, gave up and decided to come back when the weather warms up. Folks along the river are praying for a gradual warm up that will rot the ice pack, and not anymore heavy rains. Time will tell.

I was in such a hurry to get home with the Chinese food, plus I was blocking in about six cars in the parking lot, that I didn't snap this pick until I was on the bridge in Augusta looking south downriver.