East Boothbay, ME, High Tide, January 13, 2024 Storm

Photos by Steve Branam. On January 13, an extreme astronomical high tide coincided with wind-driven storm surge to cause significant damage all along the Maine coast. This is the small Rt. 96 causeway leading into East Boothbay from the Boothbay area, the only paved access onto our peninsula.

The Damariscotta River is on its right side, and an old millpond is on its left. The river is tidal, opening out into the ocean just a few miles down from this. It has a tidal range of about 10 feet.

The roadway here was covered by about 6 inches of water. Fortunately it didn't suffer any damage, but other areas in the direct path of the waves experienced damaged roads and debris thrown 50 or 100 feet inland. Not just driftwood, but huge chunks of asphalt and rocks bigger than my head. Think about the hydraulic force it took to fling those around.

This is what sea-level rise does. The fire department parked vehicles on either side to block traffic until the tide subsided. The first photo above was published with several others in the Boothbay Register.

For comparison, see this high tide on March 10 under similar conditions. The fire department was back out monitoring the situation and guiding traffic down the center of the causeway, but it never completely flooded.

Notice the small building across the road to right is no longer there. It was already in poor shape, and the January storm caused enough additional damage that it had to be taken down.

Our house is nearby on a side street but about 50' above this level up a small hill. We don't face the risk of direct inundation, but we do risk being cutoff if the causeway is damaged. There is another old road off of Rt. 96 over the hill and through the woods on the left side of the millpond, but it's not fully paved all the way. It could be used for emergency access, but would need some work before it could be put into general use.

That's how I see climate change and sea level rise playing out. It will slowly work at the aging infrastructure, eating away at the weak parts. A small number of people will be directly affected by the damage, but a large number will be affected by the immediate ripple effects, the damaged small bridges and roadways that are critical to bringing in heating oil and groceries.

That also risks damaging water supply systems and power distribution, critical to the habitability of small communities.

We've already seen some of that in other areas of Maine this winter and spring. The recent months have been setting records for rainfall, and certainly for rainfall damage. Communities have suffered major washouts and erosion, tearing up transportation and utility infrastructure. That requires temporary re-routing while repairs are underway. Although alternate routes aren't always available.

Similarly for working waterfronts, with dockage and facilities destroyed. This is critical infrastructure for the local economy. It's the equivalent of the barns and silos in an agricultural community.

The repairs are straining local budgets. Climate resiliency and adaptation means we need to invest that money if we are are to protect our communities.

These links have interesting information:

• National Water Prediction Service zoomed in to Portland, ME. Click on the "Atlantic Coast At Portland (in MLLW)" icon to expand the right side and see the tide graph. This was showing in the "Major" range on January 13, and "Moderate" on March 10.
  
• Maine Geological Survey Sea Level Rise/Storm Surge is an interactive map where you can see projected rise overlaid on the topography. Click on the "Layer List" icon and click on a "Highest Astronomical Tide Plus X feet" item to see what would be covered. This page has a number of other interesting things on the left side list.

Both of those pages are complex, so take some time to explore them.