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Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
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Gregory Rec/Staff PhotographerFORT KENT — The levee stood guard along the edge of Fort Kent's downtown for the last 32 years, a simple mound of earth and rocks that stretches more than a half mile along the southern bank of the St. John River.
But it had never been tested the way it was last week, when the river surged to the highest level ever recorded -- about 10 feet above Main Street and inches from overflowing the earthen dike.
And, now, it has never been more appreciated.
"Thank God for the dike," said Pat Labbe, co-owner of Nadeau's House of Furniture on Main Street.
Before the evacuation order Wednesday, Labbe and his employees raced to stack reclining chairs on top of one another in case the river breached the levee and swallowed the downtown. But, stacking furniture most likely would not have helped, he said.
"This store probably wouldn't have held up. It probably would be gone," he said.
A historic snowpack and a 3-inch rainstorm pushed the fast-rising St. John River to a record level Wednesday, nearly 3 feet above the previous record set in 1979.
It was effectively a worst-case flood, the one federal engineers had in mind when they designed and built Fort Kent's dike, which was finished in 1976.
The town did not escape severe damage, mostly caused when the Fish River overflowed its banks and flooded eastern Main Street. More than 100 homes were flooded and some residents will be out of their damaged homes for weeks, at least.
Federal and state officials said it is too soon to estimate the cost of the damage to homes, businesses, roads and bridges, but that the region is sure to qualify for federal disaster assistance.
It clearly could have been much worse.
Downtown businesses were closed and about 600 residents were evacuated from the western part of town for nearly two days as the river surged against the dike and threatened to breach it.
But the levee, which cost $1.5 million when it was built, held up and prevented what could have been catastrophic damage for the town.
"It's paid for itself," said Vern Ouellette, director of the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency.
Fort Kent's downtown used to flood regularly as melting snow and ice swelled the St. John. The spring floods periodically closed businesses and flooded homeowners' basements.
The town, state and federal government finally moved forward with a plan to build the levee after a spring flood in 1973 caused $3 million worth of damage.
Some had mixed feelings about the project, recalls Police Chief Kenneth Michaud, who was an officer in the department at the time.
Five or six houses had to be moved out of the way, and everyone along the river lost backyards, trees and views of the river.
"The whole length, everybody lost some," Michaud said.
"They didn't want to give up their land, but they all wanted it because they were all tired of the flooding."
"The business people liked it, I can tell you," Labbe said.
It didn't take long to prove its value to everyone. The river reached a record height in 1979, but flooding was minimal.
"I think after the '79 storm any of the naysayers disappeared," said Town Manager Don Guimond.
The dike is about 12 feet wide at the top and tapers down on both sides. The side facing the town is covered with grass, while the river side is protected by rocks.
Its core is filled with impermeable clay. A drainage system built into its base carries away any water that seeps through.
Storm runoff that used to flow from downtown into the river is now blocked by the berm, so it's collected at the base of the dike in storm drains and then pumped over.
It took two years to build, recalls Philip Bouchard, a 79-year-old former volunteer fire chief who lives next to the eastern end of the dike.
"That summer, we had a hell of a high water, and they lost...
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