Tag Archives: storm surges

Flooding smashes Maine’s coast, destroying historic buildings and forcing rescues

A massive Saturday storm brought record flooding and high winds to coastal Maine, destroying iconic fishing shacks along a South Portland beach and forcing rescues farther down the coast. Damage was heavy in the Portland area around the highest tide of the season around noon. Some of the biggest casualties were three fishing shacks that sat on Fisherman’s Point and had interior timbers that are more than 200 years old. They were washed away as the high tide came in around noon Saturday. Video, photos, >>click to read<< 07:22

‘It was devastating’: Revisiting the Groundhog Day storm of 1976 on its 45th anniversary

It’s nearly impossible for any Feb. 2 – Groundhog Day – to roll around in southwestern Nova Scotia without people thinking back to the Groundhog Day storm of 1976. On a day when the weather forecast was for warm temperatures and 30 mph winds, the region got walloped by strong winds, storm surges and power outages that went on for days. Sustained wind speeds of 135 mph were clocked over Grand Manan and they topped 100 mph in Yarmouth. The storm devastated fishing communities where boats were tossed around and wharves were destroyed by the wind and the storm surge. School closed and children spent days at home. Due to the power outages, businesses were closed too. There was destruction everywhere. Lots of photos, >click to read< 17:46