Floods Ruin Historic New England Fort

Water lapped at rooftops and canoes floated across flooded streets Thursday in Maine, where a 233-year-old British fort was swept away by a torrent.

Rivers swollen by rain and melting snow were still rising in northern Maine, but floodwaters receded in the southern and eastern parts of the state after ripping out bridges and sweeping houses downstream.

With the rain over, the conditions are expected to improve statewide in the next several days, weather forecasters said.

Damage appeared to be worst along the Kennebec River, where the flood was described as “a 500-year event” by National Weather Service hydrologist Jerry French--an event that could take place an average of only once in 500 years.

Surveys Damage

“I think we lost everything,” said Rolande Poirier, 56, clutching a small dog and weeping Thursday as she looked at a flooded four-unit apartment building she owns in Augusta.

Lumber, fuel tanks and debris bobbed on water still lapping at rooftops around many houses, garages and stores in Maine.

In Winslow, the Ft. Halifax stockade, built in 1754, was swept away by the storming Kennebec River. The fort, which was the oldest standing wooden fortification in the country, was built by the British to defend the frontier against the French and Indians, said Earle Shettleworth Jr., director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

The Kennebec River crested in Augusta at 34.5 feet, several feet above the landmark 1936 flood level, French said.

Guards Against Looters

As people in canoes floated by Thursday afternoon, Rita Belanger said she had been standing guard on her house since 4 a.m. to prevent looting. Another woman saw a box of her dishes float downstream.

Cold temperatures continued to be a problem in the South, with the thermometer dropping to a record low of 48 degrees in Key West, Fla. But peach farmers said that while some were hit hard by the cold, damage was less than feared.

“We’ll end up with as many peaches as we had last year,” said Robert Dickey, president of the Georgia Peach Council. But “we’re going to have good quality and very large peaches” because the cold left fewer blooms on trees.

In western Michigan, strong winds turned falling snow into a near-blizzard, while up to 18 inches of snow fell in the Upper Peninsula.