'Everything’s just ruined': York and Hampton beaches face devastating flood damage

The floors were soaked with mud and wreckage inside Andrea Long’s home after Saturday’s storm, which shocked her entire neighborhood with catastrophic flooding.

The home at 23 Kerry Road in York, Maine, has been in her family since the 1960s, and she has lived there for 23 years. She said no storm has ever brought waters high enough to enter her living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.

“Everything’s just ruined,” Long said. “My whole life.”

Seacoast communities in southern Maine and New Hampshire are reeling from flooding that some residents compared to historic storms like the Mother’s Day Flood of 2006 and the Blizzard of ’78. Towns and cities in both saw damage to their roads and seawalls, while many residents saw their homes flood.

Authorities said Saturday’s storm — combined with the Wednesday, Jan. 3 storm that also brought flooding — made for a devastating week.

Hampton Beach, Maine coastal floods: Homes evacuated in 'unprecedented' storm, high tide

A record 14.57-foot (4.4-meter) high tide was measured in Portland, Maine, just after noon on Saturday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Cempa.  That broke the previous record of 14.17 feet (4.3 meters) set in 1978 and was the highest since measurements began in 1912.

“These were the two highest tides I’ve seen ever,” Hampton Fire Chief Mike McMahon said.

Seawalls battered on the New Hampshire coast

Rye Police Chief Kevin Walsh said parts of Route 1A will remain closed until at least Thursday due to damage from the storm.

The seawall, Walsh said, sustained damage in the first storm and was propped back in place in time for Saturday’s storm. The wall was knocked down again Saturday, leading to further damage on Ocean Boulevard.

McMahon said the seawall at Bicentennial Park was knocked down by the ocean and caused significant damage to the parking lot there. He said Ruth Stimpson Park, where two fish houses are located, filled with rocks.

The roads at Hampton Beach saw significant flooding Saturday. McMahon said Ashworth Avenue was underwater at high tide. He said the exposure caused electrical damage to some homes, including one that resulted in a small fire occurring Monday morning.

Unitil began proactively inspecting individual natural gas meters and services in the Hampton Beach area following Saturday’s flooding event after receiving reports of some submerged gas service meters and regulators within the flooded area. While Unitil’s gas system itself wasn’t directly impacted by the flooding, gas service technicians performed door-to-door inspections to check meters and regulators for possible water infiltration. Equipment that was found to be damaged by the floodwaters was shut off and replaced.

Ben and Molly St. Jeanne, who own the Big Bad Food Truck, said their kitchen on Ashworth Avenue had about 5 inches of water enter the building. Molly St. Jeanne said none of their equipment was operating Monday, except their stove top and one of their reach-in refrigerators.

“We hope that they dry out and everything’s OK,” she said. “It’s a huge setback.”

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Maine communities see 'historic coastal damage'

York Emergency Management Director Nicole Pestana said town leaders decided Friday, Jan. 12 to close several roads at 10 a.m. Saturday. She said the projected 10-foot tide level, combined with a 4-foot storm surge, likely meant they would experience significant flooding.

“When the tide is around 10 feet, we know it’s going to be coming over the wall,” Pestana said.

While homes near Long Sands Beach flooded, Amanda Woods said businesses on Short Sands Beach saw knee-high water at certain points of Railroad Avenue.

Her 11-year-old son Cooper was helping Johnny’s Candy Corner owner Johnny Biagioni during the storm with shovels to push water from entering Biagioni’s store.

In nearby Wells, Maine, Town Manager Mike Pardue told residents in a letter Sunday the town faced “historic coastal damage due to astronomic high tides.” He said public works crews are working around the clock to clear debris and restore the roads to drivable conditions.

“Equally, our public safety crews are actively working to identify compromised homes and are in the process of contacting homeowners to ensure everyone's safety,” Pardue said. “The safety and well-being of our residents remain our top priority.”

Pictures posted on Facebook show waves crashing close to St. Ann’s by the Sea Episcopal Church in Kennebunkport. The church stated in a post that the two storms had left them with significant damage.

“Efforts are underway to clear debris, restore power, and stabilize St. Ann’s seawall,” the church stated in its post. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those impacted by this storm.”

In Ogunquit, places like Perkins Cove were hit with severe flooding. Footbridge Lobster posted pictures on Facebook of how the cove had flooded onto the street.

“Footbridge has suffered tremendous damage as well as so many other businesses in Perkins Cove and those up and down the coast here in Maine,” the post read. “We will repair and rebuild at community and state levels.”

Warren's Lobster House in Kittery announced Monday it will be closed for the "foreseeable future" due to flood damage. Warren has also closed in late December 2022 for about a month, also due to flooding damage, reopening in late January 2023.

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Hampton Beach, Maine beaches planning days of cleanup

Police and fire officials say they will work throughout the week to clean up parts of the Seacoast after the flooding.

In Kennebunk, King’s Highway is flooded at its western end, and could take several days for the Fire Department to pump it out.

Two stretches of Route 1A remained closed as of Monday in Rye. Walsh said one was from Washington Road to Rye Harbor where the bridge took serious damage. The other is from South Road to near Route 111 in North Hampton, where serious infrastructure damage occurred, he said.

In Kennebunkport, business owners were outside in Dock Square mopping and cleaning to reopen as quickly as possible the day after the storm, according to Laura Dolce, executive director of the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce.

While some business owners were prepared from past storms, she said many were caught off guard Saturday by its severity.

"There’s places that had been bone dry literally for decades, and suddenly things are flooding,” Dolce said. “I think that’s what’s the shocking part.”

'Still in a state of shock' after historic floods

Long, whose home was flooded on Kerry Road in York, said she was home when the storm began. She said an hour before high tide, a neighbor warned her that her car would be destroyed if she didn’t move it. She moved her car to higher ground to wait for the flood waters to recede.

“And then it didn’t,” Long said. “We came back the next day. The water went up to my windows, ruined everything in my home.”

Long’s neighbor Tamy Prescott said she also experienced the worst flooding she’s seen after owning the home for decades. She said the water entered her basement and destroyed her furnace and water heater.

Long, whose family has owned her Kerry Road cottage since the 1960s, plans to stay with friends until she can find out what to do about moving back home. She said she was still waiting for professionals to come to her home and assess the damage.

“I don’t know anything right now,” Long said. “I’m still in a state of shock."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Beach, Maine beaches face devastating flood damage