Public safety officials closed down a section of Riverside Drive in Augusta on Friday, not long after a shelter-in-place order was issued to area residents. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

AUGUSTA — An hour after a shelter-in-place order was issued by text alert to residents in the area of the 600 block of Riverside Drive on Friday, the city of Augusta announced the closure of Riverside Drive between Route 3 and Stevens Road.

Police issued a shelter-in-place order to residents in the area of 600 Riverside Drive in Augusta on Friday. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

“We ask motorists, pedestrians and visitors to seek alternative routes until further notice,” the alert read.

While the nature of the incident prompting the elevated police response was not immediately clear, Shannon Moss, public information officer for the Maine Department of Public Safety, confirmed Friday night that the Maine State Police Tactical Team was responding to Riverside Drive.

A request for comment from the Augusta Police Department was not immediately returned.

Residents in the area reported on social media they were seeing a heavy law enforcement presence in the area and one poster reported a helicopter flying overhead.

Riverside Drive runs along the eastern bank of the Kennebec River and is also U.S. Route 201 and state Route 100.

This story will be updated.

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Martha Stewart was “surprised” by the “harsh judgement” commenters were hurling at her Maine living room redo, which she shared on social media earlier this week.

“I rarely read all the comments that come in after I post but because I was so happy at the transformation of my Maine living room I did go through many of the comments and was surprised at the harsh judgment so many displayed !!!” Stewart wrote on Instagram Thursday.

The earlier reveal post featured multiple beige-and-black scenes from Stewart’s recently redecorated living room.

Aside from beige sofas and dark wood and black accents, artwork of birds and plenty of furniture made to look like wood lined the lavish rooms.

She wrote in the initial post, that she had a “big day rearranging the furniture in the three main living rooms at Skyland,” noting that she “switched the living room from grey blue upholstery to a creamy pale buttery yellow.”

Commenters were less than pleased with Stewart’s latest design choices, with one writing that the redecorated living space “looks old and stuffy” and another noting that it’s “not your best work” and that the room feels “empty like no soul empty.”

Not all the comments were critical, though, with plenty of fans chiming in on the original post to let the queen of domesticity know they think her home is “beautiful.”

“I have so missed your interior decorating segments,” one commenter wrote. “YES YES YES to all of this.”

Stewart said in her initial post that some of the furniture was repurposed from a home she sold two years ago, and, in an attempt to explain herself and design choices, provided further context on the redecoration on Thursday.

“I and my Maine helpers spent three hours moving out the old furniture and putting in the new,” Stewart said Thursday, adding that she and her team “were pleased that the pieces actually fit the room and were proportionate to the large size of the space.”

She made clear that the refresh “was not a ‘decorator’s’ professional installation,” rather, “It was an attempt to change quickly and efficiently.”

“Making a house a home, or a room a beautiful livable space takes a lot more than three hours,” Stewart continued on Instagram. “Of course there will be color, plants, mirrors, a new rug or two and other art and objects Stay tuned!!!!”

No home renovation is safe from the brutal judgment of the internet. Not even Martha Stewart, whose Maine summer home apparently did not pass muster with Instagram commenters, is immune.

On July 2, Stewart posted to Instagram with photos from her newly rearranged living room, writing, “We switched the living room from grey blue upholstery to a creamy pale buttery yellow ( all the yellow came from lily pond lane which I sold two years ago!) the library is much more comfortable now and the faux Bois table is now the card table I love the rustic yet elegant charm of this lovely 1925 house.”

But I guess her social media followers were not that charmed.

Comments from unimpressed Instagram users included, “Looks old and stuffy,” and, “Going to be honest…you could hire a better decorator,” and, “Doesn’t look homey and inviting,” and, “Yuck. It looks like a Marriott suite living room in 1987.”

But if you were expecting Martha Stewart not to respond to all this criticism, you’d be deeply mistaken.

“I rarely read all the comments that come in after I post but because I was so happy at the transformation of my Maine living room I did go through many of the comments and was surprised at the harsh judgment so many displayed,” she wrote in a follow-up post on July 4. She continued that it took her and her helpers three hours to replace all of the furniture, and that they were pleased with how well everything fit, adding that it was not a professional installation from a decorator, just a quick facelift. “Making a house a home, or a room a beautiful livable space takes a lot more than three hours. Of course there will be color, plants, mirrors, a new rug or two and other art and objects Stay tuned!!!!”