ALLAGASH, Maine — A flood warning remains in effect in northern Maine, where an ice jam on the St. John River in Allagash was creating minor flooding Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
As of 8 a.m. Friday, the water level of the river at the Dickey gage was 1 inch over the 25-foot flood stage, and the weather service predicted those levels would fluctuate throughout the day as temperatures warm to nearly 60 degrees.
Emergency management officials had predicted the jam could let go Thursday night, leading to increased risks of flooding downriver, and residents were on high alert all night.
“The men stayed up all night watching that jam,” Allagash resident Darlene Kelly Dumond said Friday morning. “They said the water fluctuated all night long but just by inches.”
Twenty-four years ago, on April 9, a massive ice jam released on the St. John River, knocking homes off their foundations, trapping others in their homes and destroying all three bridges leading in and out of the small community 40 miles west of Fort Kent.
Residents want to make sure they have as much warning as possible in case this year’s jam produces serious flooding, Dumond said.
“We know the water is going to come across the road when this jam lets go,” Dumond said. “There is enough ice in the way; the water is going to push around it in some places.”
People are keeping an eye on low-lying roads near Cross Rock, the Allagash-St. Francis town line and near the old Dickey Trading Post, which was closed for a time Thursday when water and ice covered the road.
The St. John River rose about 15 feet in 90 minutes behind the jam in Allagash around 4 a.m. Thursday, according to Greg Stewart of the U.S. Geological Service in Maine. Stewart said this was considered a historically rapid rise and ranked among the top five fastest river level increases since records have been kept in the last 70 years.
Ice jams can cause water to rise rapidly upriver from their location, creating flooding conditions. When the ice jam breaks up, all that backed up water is released and can cause more flooding problems in low-lying areas as it rushes downriver.
On Friday, Arlo Caron, 74, and his girlfriend, Kathy Cortez, 63, were watching the situation from the wrong side of Ferry Road, which was closed Thursday because of flooding behind the ice jam.
Despite being cut off from the rest of the world, Caron was not concerned Friday.
“What’s to be worried about?” he said by telephone. “The water would have to rise another 40 feet to get to me.”
Caron said he and Cortez have plenty of supplies for themselves and their pets: a terrier dog, four parakeets and two cockatiels.
“We stocked up beforehand,” Caron, a retired registered Maine Guide, said. “I figured this would be a big [ice] jam.”
The couple still has electricity and, even if the power does go out, Caron said they have a propane cook stove.
“This is just an ice jam,” he said. “It ain’t bothering us any.”
On Thursday, the Maine River Flow Advisory Commission issued a statement that the flood potential is above normal around the state.
“We are monitoring the situation,” Don Guimond, Fort Kent town manager, said Thursday morning. “We estimate it takes about two hours and 45 minutes for the ice to get from [Allagash] to Fort Kent, assuming it does not jam up somewhere in between.”
Officials also are keeping an eye on an ice jam on the Aroostook River near the Fort Fairfield and Caribou town line that caused flooding Wednesday night and prompted the Maine Department of Transportation to close a section of Grimes Road, also known as North Caribou Road Wednesday and Thursday.
That road was open again by Friday.
The weather service also is tracking a series of storms expected to bring up to 3 inches of rain to parts of the state Monday and create flooding conditions in areas Down East that were hit with record snowfall this past winter.
Up in Allagash, all eyes remain on the river.
“It’s just a waiting game right now,” Dumond said. “That’s all we can do.”
