Ice jams Aroostook County

The warning was issued in response to several problematic ice jams that have caused flooding in the Aroostook River basin and have threatened flooding elsewhere.
One of the areas affected by the ice jam flooding included the town of Washburn and the village of Crouseville, where a large ice jam had flooded sections of the Washburn Road (State Rout 164) with three feet of water on Tuesday.
Though the Aroostook River is flowing freely under the U.S. Route 1 Bridge in Presque Isle, river ice had been gathering above the Caribou dam forming a 2-mile long jam; it was anticipated by the National Weather Service in the flood warning placed on Tuesday that increased pressure from the ice jam in Caribou combined with increased river flow would cause the ice to spill over the dam at any time.
Ice spilling over the dam in Caribou will flow toward another large ice jam locked into place below the U.S. Route 1A Bridge in Fort Fairfield, which has already flooded Riverside Avenue and the Russell Road according to the National Weather Service.
“We’re hoping that the ice jam in Fort Fairfield will either dislodge itself or the Aroostook River will divert itself through the ice to alleviate the pressure,” said Mark Turner, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hydrologist in Caribou. “The ice is currently acting as a dam and if you get more ice and water going through there, it could exacerbate the flooding problems.”
Emergency management officials working with the town of Fort Fairfield have been discussing closing the bridge.
“The water going under the Fort Fairfield bridge is quite high, only a couple of feet below the girders,” said Fort Fairfield Town Manager Dan Foster on Tuesday afternoon, “if that ice comes through, water levels will go up and the ice may bang against the girders, and we can’t have vehicles on the bridge if the ice is going to be banging against the girders.”
“There is no way to tell how bad an ice jam is going to be because they’re very unpredictable,” Turner added. “Ice jams and ice jam flooding occurs almost every year. This year, the ice seems to be going down stream a little earlier than normal, which means that it hasn’t had time to weaken as much as it normally would and so we’re seeing more problems than usual.”
According to Turner, there are currently ice jams along the Aroostook River in Fort Fairfield, Crouseville, and Washburn.
“Currently, there is a rather large jam above the dam in Caribou,” explained Turner. “If the ice jam in Crouseville were to break away and dislodge the ice jam at the Caribou dam, it could go cascading over the dam and down into Fort Fairfield making a dangerous situation because the additional ice currently has nowhere to go in Fort Fairfield [due to the existing ice jam].”
“The big issue in Fort Fairfield is the ice jam above and below the bridge over the Aroostook River,” said Vern Ouellette, director of the Emergency Management Agency on Monday afternoon. “Right now, the ice is actually hitting the bridge and we are trying to decide if we are going to close it down.”
As of Monday, only one Fort Fairfield residence on Riverside Street had been evacuated due to a portion of that road being under water according to Ouellette, who also mentioned that a solid sheet of ice remained below Tinker Dam on the Aroostook River and below the Caribou Dam.
“When those let go, the water is really going to start to move,” Ouellette said, “we’re really paying attention to it. We have been in touch with our emergency teams and everything is set up if we need to act quickly,” Ouellette added.
“We’ve had warm temperatures and rain, which is what typically kicks off the ice runs in the area,” Turner added. “There are currently showers predicted for this week, but nothing that should add up to much of any additional issue.”
“We’re hoping that the jam will go over Tinker Dam in an hour or two,” Ouellette said on Tuesday afternoon.
New GPS technology obtained by the Emergency Management agency had allowed close surveillance of the ice jams, photos and information about which are received in Augusta minutes after being obtained.
“We were monitoring the ice jam in Washburn as it went go,” said Ouellette. “Within two minutes, all the information had been received in Augusta.”
“Emergency management services have been very well organized,” said Foster. “All of the major utilities and major players understand what their roles are and Paul Durepo, Fort Fairfield emergency action director, has done a great job in coordinating everything.”
Though current flooding may soon be water over the dam, official caution residents to remain attentive.
“The flooding is not over, and people should monitor the news media and comply with what officials are asking,” said Ouellette. “If there is water on the road, you should never drive through it because you have no idea weather the road below has washed out or not.”
“Even after the flood waters have receded, people should stay away from the ice,” cautioned Turner. “Those ice cake weigh tons and can slide very easily.”
According to Turner, the National Weather Service has a new video camera in place that looks on the river above the bridge in Fort Fairfield; footage of this camera is accessible at http://www.crownofmaine.com/ariver.