MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Icy conditions made travel treacherous by road and air across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine on Saturday, closing roads, causing accidents and even sending a flight at Bangor International Airport skidding off a taxiway.
But as the weather warmed and road crews across the region cleared ice from highways, up to 2 inches of rain in some areas changed the threat to possible ice jams and flooding that could be caused by a combination of the rain and snowmelt.
Sections of Interstate 89 in Vermont were closed for a time Saturday morning and the crash of four tractor trailer trucks and a car snarled the southbound lane of the Maine Turnpike near Falmouth.
Early in the afternoon, a flight from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport went off the Bangor airport’s taxiway after skidding on ice, according to airport director Anthony Caruso. The plane was towed to the gate so passengers could disembark. No injuries were reported.
A teenage girl from Massachusetts was reported killed Saturday morning in the crash of two vehicles on New Hampshire Route 16 near the Milton-Wakefield town line. While the roads appeared to be ice covered, there’s no word if police believe the weather contributed to the crash.
A number of other minor accidents were also reported.
Meanwhile, a flood watch was issued for much of the region with 1 to 2 inches of rain forecast to fall in some areas. The flood watch will remain in effect from late Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday afternoon Vermont police began to warn of standing water on I-89 in in the northwestern part of the state.
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