Spring Ice Jam in Fort Kent

[nyattak]

Katgirl and I were in Fort Kent, Maine during April break visiting Hondo and enjoying our last ride together for the season. While there, the ice broke up on the St. John River that flows thru Fort Kent. Officials were concerned about possible flooding if heavy rains came in and quickly melted the four-five feet of snow still on the ground. The rains did come as perdicted and flooded Fort Kent and surrounding areas. They received approximately three inches of rain in a twelve hour period.

The attached video is clips of the ice jams and the subsequent flooding that occurred one week after Katgirl and I left. The water level under the bridge shown in the clips was approximately twenty feet below us. In one week, the water level rose to be level with the bridge railing. We would not have been allowed to stand where we had.

 

[Swiss Sledder]

Cool. I watched your video first, then read the text. I thought you were on a boat, not standing on a bridge.

 

[170plus]

i was in that area today working,lots of damage,the levee did keep the water out of the business district except for an inch or 2 in the basements but lower main got hit hard,lots of damage to the big church,lots of side roads and culverts washed out,i heard the power pland in grand falls new brunswick has 18 million dollars in damage,lots of loss on both sides of the river(border) all the way through fredricton nb,we even had flooding in my town, Washburn,had some low areas flood and a few roads closed due to washed out culverts,lots of damage around the whole state by the sounds,glad to see its over and hopefully the people affected will get the help they need

 

[170plus]

this was the brook,it usually is maybe a foot deep,less in summer sometimes,it was flowing pretty hard for a few days

 

[snowbeast]

i was in that area today working,lots of damage,the levee did keep the water out of the business district except for an inch or 2 in the basements but lower main got hit hard,lots of damage to the big church,lots of side roads and culverts washed out,i heard the power pland in grand falls new brunswick has 18 million dollars in damage,lots of loss on both sides of the river(border) all the way through fredricton nb,we even had flooding in my town, Washburn,had some low areas flood and a few roads closed due to washed out culverts,lots of damage around the whole state by the sounds,glad to see its over and hopefully the people affected will get the help they need

Hey bro,shawne and i were up the last weekend in april,to clean off his roof on his house in madawaska,at the golf course at the long lake end,he is next door to the golf corse restraunt. So we cleaned it off,road a little 450 miles,we only had 2.5 days to ride,so off to the airport large snow drift drop,got some good pics of shawne doing drops on his apex and my xp8,so we went over to washburn down 105,when we both hit the bridge just outside of the clubhouse,on the rr bed,the famed rough bridge,he bent his tunel i polked a hole in my seam on my rear heat exchanger,well we limped them down to the clubhouse for repaires,while we were there,the operator of the big cat,the older man,who grooms 99% of the time,took us out for a ride in the cat,while his boy went for some JB WELD,wow what a ride that cat is,man he even let me drive it,while we had the drag down and grooming,than i had to navagate it back under the overhang at the club house,man that hydrostatic drive works real quick,dont need to turn the wheel much to turn that beast,it was quite a trip,great folks,great trails,and great time was had,the County is the only place i love to ride,sorry to see such carnish from such a great winter!! Pete

 

[170plus]

that bridge was bad all year ,i told them the should scrape it to the dirt if they cant keep it a little smoother than that,lucky no one has gotten hurt,i hit it the day i left for an allagash weekend with my buddies,hit the first one popped off the second one and missed the third one,i was pissed to say the least but no harm no foul i guess,was wondering how you were,hadnt seen much beast talk on here but it looks like you made it through another season,bring on the mosquitoes

 

[hondo]

Nyattak and Katgirl,

Nice documentary.

However, an unfortunate property loss for so many who live in town...