Residents sought refuge in shelters, volunteers piled sandbags around doorways and basement windows, and streets were littered with chunks of ice washed up by the swollen St. John River.
Those scenes, brought on by overflowing rivers, took place during the flood of 1979. Floodwaters poured into northern Maine communities that spring, damaging homes, roads and potato fields, and cutting some towns off from major roads.
Three days of rain pushed the St. John River in Fort Kent over 27 feet on April 30, 1979 -- a record expected to be shattered by almost four feet early this morning.
At the time, there were more homes located in the flood zone, around East Main Street, but those houses were relocated to higher ground after the flood. The area is now known as Riverside Park, and it is under water.
Danny Nicolas, civil defense director at the time, recalls trying to persuade residents to leave their homes and serving as a French-speaking interpreter for the Red Cross. Among the evacuees were residents of a 16-unit elderly housing complex.
The water was in the streets and basements and some residents had lost heat. The senior citizens, especially, were worried about their furniture and wanted to put items like couches up on chairs out of the water's reach, he said.
The flooding left a soggy mess of soaked rugs, wallpaper and paintings, as well as fuel oil leaks.
Volunteers at the time didn't have the specialized training that many do now, Nicolas said. Many were high school students who worked nearly around the clock piling sandbags.
An emergency helicopter sent by Gov. Joseph Brennan provided the only way to reach stranded communities. Milk and other food was flown in for schoolchildren. A woman in St. Francis had to be flown to the hospital in Fort Kent after suffering a heart attack.
Town Manager Donald Guimond, a college student at the time, returned home from Bangor to find water in downtown streets and buildings.
"You always (went) home when something happened," he said.
Now, a dike provides some protection for the East Main Street area.
Ernest Charette, the 91-year-old retired owner of a woodworking shop and general store in Fort Kent, had been in Lewiston when the river crested. Days later, the water hadn't completely receded.
"People were riding in town in canoes in the street," he said. He had to take a few days off from work because of the water.
"Everything went back to normal after a few days," he said. "This time it might take longer. It's the worst I've ever seen."
Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:
akim@pressherald.com
Reader comments
Click here to view or add comments on this story
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form