Utility crews worked Tuesday to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers in Maine and some rivers continued to rise in New England following a powerful storm that hit the northeastern U.S., drenching communities and bringing windspeeds over 60 mph in some areas.
The bodies of two people killed when their pickup truck was swept off a road in floodwaters in Mexico, Maine, this week have now been recovered, police said Thursday, identifying the women.
Two other people in the vehicle survived it being overtaken by fast-moving floodwaters Monday and being swept under a bridge along the Swift River toward the Androscoggin River, Mexico police said.
They identified the women who died as Gertrude Richard, the 61-year-old driver, and 20-year-old Ciara Cooper, both from Mexico. Authorities had previously said they'd recovered one body in their search.
Monday's storm hit New England with heavy rain and strong winds, and hundreds of thousands of people were without power in Maine for days. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 60,000 customers remained without power.
Richard and Cooper are among several people who died in storm-related incidents. Their bodies were recovered Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, as the floodwaters subsided.
The pickup was swept from Carlton Avenue and under the Red Bridge after the vehicle bypassed a barricade, police said. First responders were called about the incident about 4:21 p.m. Monday amd were able to rescue two men who were in the vehicle — both are expected to survive, though they had hypothermia.
Despite a search by air, land and water, the truck wasn't spotted until Wednesday morning, near the bridge. It was recovered about 10:30 a.m. with Richard's body inside, police said.
Cooper's body was spotted Thursday morning about 100 yards from the bridge.
"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," Mexico Police Chief Roy Hodsdon said in a statement.
