GOV. JOHN BALDACCI WANTS the federal government to declare a disaster in Aroostook County following the late March blizzard that capped a season of record snowfall.

The blizzard of March 20 pushed Caribou's seasonal snowfall to 192 inches of snow, breaking the previous record of 181 inches in 1955. More snow is predicted for this weekend.

There's so much snow that the state Department of Transportation reported that 40 roads are so clogged by snowbanks that they're down to a single lane.

Sen. Susan Collins, an Aroostook native, is backing the governor's request. She says the snowfall has led to "extraordinary snow-removal costs."

Photo courtesy Jamie York of Houlton

A mini-van that was buried in the snow at York's of Houlton, a three-generation family-run automobile dealer in Houlton, peeks its nose out of a serious snowbank.
"As you probably have already heard, we have had record snowfalls this year and we have had to battle the snowbanks all winter long," explained Jamie York, who sent in the photo above. "My grandfather runs a front-end loader to push snow. During the last snow storm, a couple weeks back, he was following his routine of pushing back the mountainous snowbanks around the dealership and he failed to recognize a minivan that had been completely buried in a snow drift. He didn't realize anything was amiss until he backed up and.... well you can see for yourself."