Land unstable after landslide blocks river, causes emergency

摘要

A state of emergency remains in effect in the city of Westbrook, Maine, where workers are assessing landslides that blocked the Presumpscot River. Westbrook Fire Chief Andrew Turcotte said today that the immediate threat of flooding has subsided, but the ground remains unstable. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch and the mayor declared a state of emergency when the river was blocked yesterday. But some water began moving through the area later in the day. A geological expert who surveyed the site says geological conditions there are ripe for a landslide. The clay can liquefy and flow, which caused the landslide, Lindsay Spigel of the Maine Geological Survey said.