MAINE MONITOR • August 31, 2024
Over the past six years, catastrophic storms with surging tides dumped floodwaters in Machias far surpassing the base flood elevation, classifying the events as 100-year floods. Last winter alone, three floods overwhelmed the dike and much of the surrounding downtown, including forcing the town hall to move, a change that has become permanent. Meanwhile, the eroding, century-old dike — a significant cause of that flooding — remains crippled and inadequately mended. After 15 years of studies, hearings and back-and-forth plans, the public still awaits a Maine Department of Transportation decision about how it will fix the problem — a dike that keeps crumbling and flood waters that keep coming.