flooding

Maine Families Worry Heavy Rains Could Bring More Flooding

Scientists have warned that future storms could generate more rainfall because of climate change

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Over the past several days, some communities in Maine have received more than half a foot of rain with flood watches in the state and more rain expected on Tuesday.

Before and through the weekend, passing ran storms submerged some city streets in Portland and a road outside Bangor is closed indefinitely after being washed out.

Early Saturday morning, Adam Küykendall was awakened when he smelled gas fumes, only to find that feet of water had trapped him and his family in their Brewer home.

“The water was all the way up to our steps,” he said during a Tuesday interview with NECN/NBC 10 Boston, explaining that basement flooding had rendered his furnace unusable.

“The kids, the next morning, picking through all the Christmas ornaments and trying to dry them out one at a time, that was kind of sad,” he said.

With more rain expected in Brewer on Tuesday, Küykendall said he doesn’t “think there’s going to be much sleep tonight.”

“If it looks like the water is going to get anywhere near where it was before, we’ll get everybody out of here,” he added, noting that he still has not identified where the smell of gas fumes came from.

 Küykendall also said he would advise other families who experience occasional basement or yard flooding to take current and future rain storms seriously.

While he has had water in both before, Saturday’s flooding was the worst flooding he has experienced and scientists have warned that future storms could generate more rainfall because of climate change.

“We did everything we could to be aware,” he said, adding that his family lives “in the middle of town, we don’t live near a body of water.”

The flood risk for much of Maine runs into Wednesday morning when flood watches are set to expire. 

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