Flood Leaves 120,000 Without Safe Water

Flood waters from a storm that dumped up to 18 inches of rain on the Northeast ruptured a pipeline Tuesday, leaving at least 120,000 people in and around Maine’s largest city without drinking water.

The powerful weekend nor’easter was blamed for at least seven deaths from New Jersey to New Hampshire. Another person was missing in Maine.

“No showers, no coffee and I can’t even use the bathroom,” said Laurie Davis of Westbrook, outside Portland. Davis couldn’t leave home to get bottled water; she was stranded because two nearby bridges were washed out.

A 48-inch main that carries water about 25 miles from Sebago Lake to the Portland area was broken in at least four places. There was no word on when service would be restored, and the area’s 170,000 customers were told to boil any water they did get.

The state’s largest hospital, Maine Medical Center in Portland, canceled all elective surgery but was able to maintain emergency services.

The flood waters apparently washed away the soil supporting the pipeline.

Flooding also shut down the water supply for Exeter, N.H., and service was not expected to be restored for two to three weeks. An estimated 1,000 people were evacuated.

Authorities in Rockingham County, N.H., moved 115 inmates out of the county jail because the bottom floor was under 2 feet of water.

Residents from New Jersey to Massachusetts began to head home after spending the night in emergency shelters.

In Boston, water lapped at the entrance to a subway line before receding and homeowners got on a waiting list for pumps to remove the stinking raw sewage from their basements.

“What we’re looking at is the ugly, gunky, germy aftermath,” said Arlene Margolis, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.