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Click here for a video filmed today in Fort Kent.
7:30 p.m. report:
FORT KENT Fort Kent residents and Red Cross volunteers are serving hot meals at this hour to about 25 people who were evacuated from their homes over the past two days. Meals and snacks are also being prepared tonight for the small army of police and government officials who have descended on this small town.
The evacuees are split between the Northern Door Inn and the Fort Kent campus of the University of Maine.
Dozens of other displaced people, particularly from the apartment buildings off East Main Street, continue to stay with relatives and friends in the area.
Red Cross volunteers have also been shuttling prescription medicine to elderly evacuees, from two pharmacies.
"We're here to help them with their immediate needs. FEMA will take care of the long-term," said volunteer Brenda Moody.
She has been amazed by the resilience of the people.
"They are not depressed. They are not demanding anything," Moody said.
Cecillia and Willis Stadig, who were evacuated from their Soldier Pond home by way of a tractor on Tuesday night, said the hospitality in Fort Kent has been tremendous.
"I think this is heaven," Cecillia Stadig said, sitting with other evacuees in the lounge at the Northern Door Inn. "I want to say thank you to all the people helping us."
Like many others here, the Stadigs do not know when they might go home, or even the extent of the damage.
"We're hoping tomorrow night might be our last night here," Cecillia Stadig said.
Trevor Maxwell, Staff Writer
7 p.m. report
At 7 p.m., members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were walking the 30-foot earthen dike that has protected much of downtown Fort Kent from serious flooding.
The engineers are assessing the stability of the dike, and any damage it might have sustained this week, before officials make the call to allow displaced residents back into the area.
There is no word on that decision.
Joining them on the walk were members of the Maine State Police, Fort Kent Town Manager Don Guimond, Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency chief Vern Ouellette, and other officials from various agencies.
The St. John River continues to recede, and is now flowing about 2 feet below the base of the International Bridge between Fort Kent and Canada.
Trevor Maxwell, Staff Writer
3:00 p.m. report:
FORT KENT - The St. John River receded from record-high levels Thursday as residents and emergency management officials continued to struggle with a crippling flood that forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes and the closure of bridges and roads.
"We still got a ways to go before we're clear," said Vern Ouellette, director of the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency. "We've got bridges out everywhere around the whole county."
Officials say it will be days before the floodwaters drop enough to assess the damage in this town or downstream in Van Buren, where floodwaters crested Thursday afternoon. The international bridges from both Fort Kent and Van Buren remained closed because of concerns about structural damage from the surging water and debris.
Officials kept a close eye on downtown Fort Kent, where houses, businesses and roads were still under water Thursday. Floodwaters crested within 6 inches of the top of the town's earthen dike Wednesday night, but did not overflow or breach the berm, something that could have led to catastrophic damage.
"It's contained. It's coming down," a relieved Ouellette said after flying over the downtown area Thursday.
- John Richardson, Staff Writer
2:30 p.m. report:
FORT KENT - At noon, Cecil Hafford motored the 10-ton Army truck along east Main Street in Fort Kent, through the slowly receding floodwaters of the St. John and Fish rivers.
The town fire department got the truck as a gift a few weeks ago.
It came in handy over the past day and a half during the worst flooding that residents here have ever witnessed.
Hafford shuttled evacuees to safety on Wednesday, and brought them back on Thursday to assess the damage. Some residents likely won' be able to move back into their homes for at least a few days.
"Most of us have been up since midnight on Tuesday,"
said Hafford, a volunteer firefighter who runs a plumbing and heating business.
"Things are looking better," Hafford said. "The water has dropped about 2 feet so far, since this morning."
The truck rumbled down a mostly deserted Main Street, past the McDonalds, Jazz it Up Dance Studio and the Catholic church, where water had crept up to the base of the pews.
Many of the homes along this road were built with the heating and electrical boxes on the second floors, out of respect to the rivers, Hafford said.
Catherine Jandreau, who cuts hair at A Little Lift Salon, got a ride out to the shop to see how far the water came up. Fortunately, it only flooded the basement. Jandreau said this has been a stressful time for everyone in the St. John Valley.
"You can't sleep," she said. "It's a mess down here. It almost looks like a war zone."
She was praying for no more rain, and for moderate temperatures to avoid the quick melting of ice and snow up river. There was concern about ice breaking free from nearby Eagle Lake, and bringing another surge in Fort Kent.
On the south side of Main Street, five cars remained nearly under water in the parking lots of apartment buildings.
"We tried to get them to move their cars, and they wouldn't," Hafford said, shaking his head. "They say there's still one guy in (an apartment) who wouldn't leave."
Hafford, 45, has lived in this area his whole life. He lives with his wife and two teenage children about a mile from here, on the hill that overlooks the town. His 16-year-old son Ethan and other kids from the high school helped out with the evacuations. They also went to as many homes as they could, moving family possessions to second floors or other places.
Hafford's wife and daughter baked cookies and delivered them to the command center for emergency officials, on the other side of town.
"We've got a big cleanup ahead of us, but that's the thing about this area. Everybody will pitch in, everybody will help one another. We take everything in stride," Hafford said.
"Everybody's just anxious for getting the water out of the way and get things back to normal," he said.
- Trevor Maxwell, Staff Writer
12:45 p.m. report:
FORT KENT - Some Fort Kent residents were trying to return to their homes Thursday as the flood waters receded. State police, meanwhile, tried to keep them out because of concerns about the dike that was still holding back the swollen St. John.
"It's been soaked for three days," Maine State Police Sgt. Thomas Pelletier said. "We're holding our lines."
Pelletier urged officials to keep people out until the earthen dike can be inspected and declared safe. Federal inspectors are expected to arrive this afternoon.
"If they don't want to (leave) then let them know they'll be arrested," Pelletier said.
- John Richardson, Staff Writer
12:15 p.m. report:
FORT KENT - Flooding is also causing pollution concerns in Fort Kent and other flooded areas.
Heating oil tanks in basements and backyards are floating and breaking free, releasing the fuel into the floodwaters. Maine Department of Environmental Protection crews are cleaning up oil slicks in basements and surface waters along the St. John and Fish rivers, officials said.
Officials also are concerned about drinking water supplies in Fort Kent and other flooded areas. Residents who rely on well water are a being urged to boil their water because of the risk of contamination from the flooded river.
Local officials are making arrangements to provide water sampling and testing kits to local residents.
And Poland Spring is expected to bring in donated drinking water this afternoon, according to Vern Ouellette.
Public water supplies are still safe, officials said, but residents are being asked to conserve.
- John Richardson, Staff Writer
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
The St. John River is still flowing into the International Bridge between Fort Kent and
Claire, Canada, in this photo taken at 7 a.m. today. The river crested overnight
and is now receding.
Noon report:
FORT KENT - The St. John River continues to recede in Fort Kent.
"It's looking good," said Vern Ouellette, director of the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency. "It's contained. It's coming down."
Ouellette viewed the flooding from the air at about 11:30 a.m. There is still as much as 6 to 8 feet of water over parts of Main Street, but the river could fall below flood stage by tomorrow morning, he said.
The bright sunshine may be reassuring the residents but isn't necessarily helping, however, because there is still plenty of snow on the ground to melt. "We prefer it cold," said Ouellette.
Additional flooding remains a concern in Van Buren, where the St. John is cresting now, Ouellette said.
- John Richardson, Staff Writer
11 a.m. report:
FORT KENT - The International Bridge between Fort Kent and Claire, Canada, is likely to be closed through Saturday and perhaps into next week, officials said.
Although the river did not overflow the bridge, the flooded St. John continues to surge against its side, threatening to push it over or weaken it.
Maine Department of Transportation engineers have been on site, but won't be able to get a look at the bridge structure until the river falls several more feet, said Maine State Police Sgt. Thomas Pelletier.
"They're looking at the water levels to be in the 23 feet range in order to go under the bridge, and we don't anticipate the 23 feet level until tomorrow evening. So they won't be able to inspect the bridge until Saturday morning," said Pelletier.
He said it could be Monday before the bridge is reopened.
The closest alternative crossing is 22 miles away in Madawaska. "But we can't get to Madawaska," Pelletier said.
Motorists would need to travel another 10 miles or so to get around road flooding, he said.
- John Richardson, Staff Writer
10:45 a.m. report:
FORT KENT - The St. John slowly receded Thursday morning, easing concerns about the earthen dike protecting downtown Fort Kent.
But the 600 residents evacuated from downtown won't know when they can return until federal inspectors arrive from New Hampshire later today to inspect the dike.
"It's looking good. We think it's fine, but we need some outside experts to take a look," said Vern Ouellette, director of the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency.
The river crested at a record 30.17 feet at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, rising to within 6 inches of overflowing the dike, said Ouellette, one of more than a dozen state, county and local officials at the emergency command center in the Lonesome Pine Ski Lodge.
Although the dike held, riverside homes and businesses were flooded as waters rose through storm sewers and overflowed the banks of Fish River where it flows into the St. John.
Parts of Main Street and neighborhoods along the river are still under water, and the International Bridge here remains closed because of concerns about its integrity.
State police and search and rescue crews were on standby and patrolling the town through the night, but there were no injuries or emergency evacuations.
"Everybody made it through the night safely," said Sgt. Thomas Pelletier of the Maine State Police.
The river level had dropped to 29.1 as of 9:30 a.m. today and is expected to drop below 25 feet by Saturday, Ouellette said.
- John Richardson, Staff Writer
10:30 a.m. report
FORT KENT Eighteen inches. It doesn't sound like much.
On Thursday morning, as the Fish River continued to flood where it flows into the roaring St. John River in Fort Kent, 18 inches was the difference between flooded basements and a much more serious disaster.
"It got that close," said Dan Chasse. He stood with a videocamera on the grassy berm, behind his house on Blockhouse Road, and pointed to the high-water mark.
On the other side of the berm, several feet of floodwater swamped a lumber yard and some side roads along the Fish River.
The berm behind the Chasse house was built in the late 1970s, and it's the start of the much larger dike that protects much of Fort Kent from floods.
When the rivers crested early Thursday morning, the water reached to within 18 inches of the 10-foot berm, Chasse said. As it was, 5 feet of groundwater had already flooded the Chasse's basement and the basements of nearby homes.
"Things are improving, but we're not out of the woods yet," Chasse said.
On this morning of bright sunshine, gasoline-powered water pumps buzzed throughout the neighborhood, and helicopters circled overhead.
Some residents tried to get back into their homes to retrieve items they weren't able to take out in the rush of Wednesday's evacuation. They probably won't be allowed back into this area, off Main Street, until at least tonight, officials said.
Chasse and his wife Christine have lived here since 1991. Only one time have they had standing water in their basement. And that was a few inches. The family did not have flood insurance.
"Over the past couple weeks, we thought the danger had passed," Chasse said. "Then we got like three-and-a-half inches of rain, and all hell broke loose."
This whole area off West Main Street also was spared more serious flooding, at least for now, because of the fast work of the town's public works crews, police officers and firefighters.
When officials saw how fast the Fish River was rising on Wednesday morning, they used heavy equipment to bring in several tons of dirt and rocks, creating another makeshift berm along the west side of the river, about 20 yards from the Chasse house.
Town Manager Don Guimond said the pile of dirt probably saved dozens of homes and businesses from far greater damage.
"We just barely made it. Water was flowing down Main Street until we got it built," Guimond said. "My guess is we were about 15 minutes from pulling the plug on (the pump station)."
Next door to the Chasse's on Blockhouse Road, John Bouchard was pumping out his parents' basement, with a 4-inch pipe that emptied into the backyard.
Bouchard grew up at the house, and his parents have lived here for 55 years.
"They've never seen anything like this," Bouchard said. "That rain, it just hit at the wrong time."
- Trevor Maxwell, Staff Writer
10:00 a.m. report:
FORT KENT As flood waters recede in the Fort Kent area, members of the Maine Warden Service began following the high waters to downstream locations.
Spokeswoman Deb Turcotte said wardens were shifting to the towns of Masardis, Washburn, Presque Isle and Caribou.
"Our primary focus is going downriver as the water starts heading south," she said.
Turcotte said pressure was easing on the Fish River, where an earthen dam had breached. She said a V that formed in the dam allowed the water to escape gradually and the level had dropped 7 feet overnight.
She said about 30 wardens were helping with flood response statewide. "Hopefully there wont be any need for rescues, people are quite prepared and are heeding the warnings," she said.
8:30 a.m. report:
The St. John River, which crested at a record 30 feet early Thursday in Fort Kent, began inching lower this morning.
The retreat was welcome news to the people of this northern border town, who were worried that the river was going to breach the 30-foot-tall dike that protects downtown.
"It came up to within inches of going over," said Eugene Allen, who stayed with his girlfriend at the Northern Door Inn, a few hundred yards from the river. They were among dozens of residents evacuated.
A large section of downtown had already been inundated on Wednesday, at the confluence of the St. John and Fish rivers. The murky water spilled over ballfields, parks, and climbed several feet up the sides of many buildings. Dozens of properties have been damaged.
But many other homes and businesses remain protected by the dike, which was built to prevent against historic floods such as this.
At the inn on Thursday morning, evacuees and employees looked out over the rushing river and the steel-framed bridge that connects Fort Kent with Claire, Canada.
Folks are still concerned, but they hope the town has dodged a much more serious threat.
"I think the fact that the snow melted slowly over the past two weeks, that was a miracle. I think it saved this town," Allen said.
Judy Nadeau, a resident of Claire, works at the Irving station in Fort Kent, and got stuck on the U.S. side when officials closed the bridge early on Wednesday. She will try to drive to Madawaska today, in order to cross back into Canada, to her husband and two children in Claire.
"It has been a panic," Nadeau said. "We were afraid of that bridge falling yesterday."
Nadeau, 46, has spent her life in this area. The only event she could compare to this was the flood of 1979. She was 15 years old and remembers the bridge was only closed for a few hours.
Now the bridge could be closed for days, as officials assess the structure and wait for the water to go down several feet below its base.
"It's amazing," Nadeau said. "We never thought the water would get so high."
- Trevor Maxwell, Staff Writer
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