Note: An update has been issued since this post. See most recent post at mattnoyes.net homepage.
The situation is dire and only expected to get worse in the coming hours. The St. John and Fish River have both responded to the combination of snowmelt and heavy rain, and have been rising steadily and quickly. The rivers are reaching record flood levels, and will continue rising into the overnight Wednesday night. With the new, revised forecast from the National Weather Service's Northeast River Forecast Center, Environment Canada and the United States National Weather Service both agree that the St. John River at Fort Kent Maine will rise to 31 feet - enough to top the earthen levee that protects the center of town, inundating Fort Kent in the northernmost tip of New England. Residents have been working hard to keep the river in check and have been working to raise the levees where they can, but in the end the power of the water will, without question, be too much for these efforts if it does indeed reach the 31 foot mark.
Downtown Fort Kent resembles a ghost town at this hour, with numerous roads and the center of town closed except to those working to build up the levees and, moreover, prepare the town for inundation. This is not uncharted territory for me as a meteorologist, NECN as a station, or New England as a whole. This is the third consecutive year we've recorded major or record flooding in New England, and this new routine is one that repeatedly leaves new folks with flooded homes and businesses. I will update tips for after the flooding in the coming 24 hours, but for now, the advice is to follow all evacuation orders - they are based on history and science, not guesswork. Remember that flooding is the number one cause of death by weather - folks either trying to drive through floodwaters, or not leaving their homes when the waters rise. We are hearty in Northern Maine - three foot snowstorms are simply a reason to take the snowmobile - but the power of water is one we must respect.
Webcam from Fort Kent from SJV Wireless:
Latest forecast for Fort Kent, Maine, from the Northeast River Forecast Center:
The following pictures were sent to NECN by Peter Cyr, from the University of Maine at Fort Kent. NECN has compiled a slideshow of some pictures that I've featured in the video embed here, or it can be viewed directly by clicking here to jump to NECN.com. Scroll down farther in this post to see additional pictures I've posted, with some description of what we're looking at. Many thanks for the tremendous effort put forth by Peter to get these amazing pictures to us.
We urge folks never to drive through floodwaters - if the car stalls, you're stuck until you're swept away. But this does give perspective of a neighborhood town:
This next picture is only the beginning of flooding for this part of Fort Kent near the St. John, but is a heartbreaking sign of what's in store.
The picture that follows illustrates just how much water is flowing into town...and this is only from what is technically "moderate" flooding along the St. John River. A huge contributor to the problems is the Fish River, which is carrying a tremendous amount of rain and snowmelt, and the confluence of these two rivers is a big problem with flooding. The earthen bump in the foreground, seen with the bridge in the background is the levee that appears as though it will overtopped. 
To the left of the levee is the way to the center of town - with an elevation lower than where the river level would be...hence the major problem. Next, a closeup of the bridge - the International Bridge that runs from Fort Kent, Maine, to Clair, New Brunswick - closed for obvious reasons with the water level so high and the force so strong it's threatening the structure. 
Of course, just a short way inland is the town center, where folks have been preparing for high water. 
Though it may look like a ghost town with the police blocking off the major roads of Fort Kent, many folks have been busy preparing for the water - taking valuables out of basements and lower levels of homes, and preparing for evacuation. 
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