FEMA Report Launches New Flood Mitigation Effort in Maine

Two years after a flood left Fort Kent under water, planning is under way to mitigate the future flood risk from the St. John River.

This month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave issued a report titled, “Living Behind the Levee: Fort Kent, Maine,” which examined factors that led to the April 2008 flood.

The flood was caused by snowmelt combined with 3 inches of rain. The earthen levee protecting downtown Fort Kent from the St. John held, but the Fish Fiver spilled its banks at the confluence with the St. John. Six hundred people had to be evacuated from Fort Kent.

John Bannen, director of planning and economic development, tells the Bangor Daily News that the FEMA report serves as a starting point for further discussions to mitigate flood risks.