AUGUSTA, Maine — Rain, high winds and the highest tide of the season are expected to lead to historic flooding along the Maine coast, with the worst potentially Down East.
Storm surges of up to 4 1/2 feet are expected to combine with a tide around midday Saturday that will be a foot above the one measured during Wednesday’s storm, which the National Weather Service in Caribou called “a very concerning situation for life and property” along the coast in a Friday morning alert.
It called the potential for coastal flooding worse than any storm in the past decade for Down East Maine. One of the major concerns is that Wednesday’s storm wiped out dunes and other defenses to rising waters and created partial damage to structures that could be wiped out by another, similar storm.
Eastport and Cutler are expected to see record stages. Mount Desert Island also may see a record, with current forecasts saying the water level in Frenchman Bay will be 17 feet, a foot and a half over the record set Wednesday.
The entire Maine coast is under a coastal flood warning in effect from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Gusts up to 60 mph are expected in coastal Washington and Hancock counties, while wind speeds may reach 50 mph along the rest of the Maine coast and into New Hampshire.
Tidal flooding is also expected to hit places inundated during Wednesday’s storm, including the Deer Isle Causeway that was submerged for two hours then. Kenduskeag Plaza in Bangor and villages on and around Mount Desert Island also are on notice.
Officials are still assessing the damage from the earlier storm, but it altered many sections of the coast by lowering beaches, damaging sea walls and eroding dunes by up to 15 feet in certain areas. Those along the coast called the impacts similar to those of a hurricane.
It is all part of a historic trend. Sea levels along Maine’s coast have risen 8 inches since 1950. They are expected to rise another 1.5 feet by 2050 and 4 feet by 2100, according to state data. Stronger and more frequent storms will sharply raise flood risks in the coming years.
For example, only 1 percent of properties in Hancock County are vulnerable to flooding from a so-called 100-year storm right now, according to the First Street Foundation’s flood risk assessment tool. But over the next 30 years, a quarter of properties will be vulnerable.
