FORT KENT - Early Wednesday morning I was awoken by a phone call at 6:30 by my supervisor telling me there was no work that day due to flooding.

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I quickly rolled out of bed, got dressed, and took a drive around town to see what was going on.

All of East Main Street was closed down, but at that time we were allowed to walk over and check everything out. I had my camera in hand and I was ready to take as many pictures as I could.

I saw some of my friends getting evacuated from their apartments at BNM Apartments and I remember thinking to myself, “Wow I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.”

After walking the east side of town I jumped back into my car to take a drive around Market Street to witness the flooding of some homes. I was completely amazed and in shock by what I was seeing.

Around 8:30 a.m. I returned to my apartment, which is located directly behind Subway on West Main Street. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind that the water would come over to my end and surround my apartment.

After uploading the pictures on my computer I decided to crawl into bed to try to doze off for another hour or so.

About five minutes later I got a call from my father in Madawaska saying that he had just heard on the radio that they were evacuating all of downtown Fort Kent that afternoon and I needed to leave as soon as possible.

I just didn’t even want to have to deal with any of that, still thinking that my apartment would not get hit by the water. I immediately jumped into the shower and ten minutes later I got out, looked out the window and saw that my entire parking lot was flooded with about a foot and a half of water.

My nerves got the best of me and I just didn’t know what to do. I ran around my apartment scrounging everything could. My boyfriend and his friend came to help me and I packed all of my clothes in garbage bags as they moved it into the back of my boyfriend’s car along with my computer.

I had no choice but to leave everything else behind. I drove my car and what belongings I could grab to higher elevation at my friends’ apartment until I could figure out what to do. But, really, what can you do in a situation like that?

All of Frenchville road on Route 1 was flooded as well so there was no way I could get home to Madawaska to my parents’ house.

My father asked around for me and we found a way by the back roads so I could make it home. Later that evening my boyfriend and I made it to Madawaska. We drove back to Fort Kent the next afternoon and saw that the water level had gone down some, and West Main Street was no longer flooded.

The flooding around my apartment had decreased to the size of a very large puddle, and I was able to sneak into my apartment to see that no water had gotten in and nothing got damaged.

However, since the town is still under a state of emergency I am not allowed back into my apartment just yet, otherwise I can get arrested if caught there. East Main Street, and my work, is still shut down and flooded at the moment.

I am considered one of the very lucky ones compared to several others who lost their homes and belongings due to the flooding.

This has been a very stressful and heartfelt situation to have to go through. I definitely learned that if Mother Nature wants to hit, she will, even in northern Maine.