MEXICO, Maine – The body of a woman who went missing after her truck was swept away during massive floods in Maine earlier this week has been recovered, bringing the state’s death toll from the storm to four.
A pickup truck with four people inside had driven around barricades in the town of Mexico, Maine, on Monday and attempted to drive across a flooded road next to the Red Bridge when their truck was carried away by the rushing waters, according to Mexico Police Chief Roy C. Hodsdon.
Two men inside the truck managed to escape and were eventually rescued by local firefighters, but the 61-year-old woman driving the truck and her 20-year-old female passenger remained missing.
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The ongoing severe weather and rising floodwaters hampered search efforts through the night and into Tuesday, Hodsdon said.
Crews finally located the missing truck Wednesday morning after waters receded. They found the body of the 61-year-old driver still inside the truck, but it wasn’t until river levels receded further Thursday that crews found the body of the 30-year-old woman about 100 yards away from where the truck was last spotted before going underwater.
“This is an unfortunate and tragic incident that shocked our entire community and I want to thank all that worked tirelessly to assist with this incident,” Hodsdon said in a statement to the press.
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Police in Windham, Maine, said a man was killed by a falling tree limb while he was working to clear debris from his roof on Monday. In Fairfield, Maine, a 77-year-old man was also killed by a falling tree while trying to remove another downed tree with a tractor.
Several rivers across Maine and New England swelled well beyond flood stage as a powerful storm swept up the Eastern Seaboard. More than 7 inches of rain fell across parts of Maine, and roughly half the state’s residents lost power during the peak of the storm as widespread wind gusts reached 50-60 mph or more. Trescott, Maine, clocked a gust of 93 mph.
Overall, eight deaths have been attributed to the storm, including deaths in Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.