Maine storms wash away iconic fishing shacks, expose long-buried 1911 shipwreck on beach

A document excessive tide in Maine washed away three historic fishing shacks that had stood because the 1800s and fashioned the backdrop of numerous images. The dramatic incident, which was caught on video, occurred simply two days after a shipwreck from 1911 was uncovered by one other storm on a seaside in Maine.

Michelle Erskine mentioned she was visiting fisherman’s level at Willard Seaside in South Portland on Saturday when she captured video footage of the final two picket shacks sliding into the ocean.

“Oh no. They’re each going. Oh no!” she may be heard saying on the video.

Erskine, who has lived in South Portland all her life, mentioned her son had his senior images taken on the shacks and wedding ceremony events usually visited them.

“It is actually a tragic day for the neighborhood and the residents of South Portland,” Erskine mentioned in an interview with The Related Press on Sunday. “Historical past is simply being washed away.”

The shacks, owned by town of South Portland, had simply undergone a facelift in October once they had been repainted.

They had been the final in a collection of fishing shacks that predate town’s incorporation after they had been first constructed alongside the shore after which moved to their most up-to-date location within the Eighties. Erskine mentioned they as soon as housed lobster traps and fishing gear. Two shacks had been destroyed in an earlier storm in 1978.

A document 14.57-foot excessive tide was measured in Portland, Maine, simply after midday on Saturday, after a storm surge amplified what was already the month’s highest tide, mentioned Nationwide Climate Service meteorologist Michael Cempa. That broke the earlier document of 14.17 toes set in 1978 and was the very best since measurements started in 1912. Cempa mentioned the tide gauge measures the distinction between the excessive tide and the common low tide.

The surge flooded some properties in Previous Orchard Seaside and Kennebunkport in Maine, and Hampton Seaside in New Hampshire. 

“I’ve seen a flood, however I’ve by no means seen something like this and I lived right here for 35 years,” Hampton resident Susan McGee instructed CBS Boston.

The floods got here simply days after a earlier storm broken certainly one of Maine’s most beloved lighthouses which is featured on the state quarter.

“Very sadly, all three fishing shacks at Willard Seaside have been fully destroyed within the storm,” town wrote in a social media publish.

However the South Portland Historic Society sounded a observe of hope, saying on social media that it had ready for such an occasion by final 12 months enlisting architects and engineers to create drawings “in order that every part could be in place to construct reproductions of the shacks, if wanted.”

The society is asking for donations to rebuild.

Throughout the storm, a fishing boat ran aground in Cape Elizabeth and 4 folks had been rescued by the Coast Guard, CBS affiliate WGME reported.

1911 shipwreck uncovered at Acadia Nationwide Park 

As winter storms pounded the state’s seashores, WABI-TV reported that an artifact was unearthed at Acadia Nationwide Park — a shipwreck from over a century in the past.

The wreck of the Tay, a schooner that ran aground throughout a storm in 1911, was uncovered Thursday morning at Sand Seaside, after being buried for many years, the Bangor Every day Information reported.

Some guests gathered to see the shipwreck, however park workers reminded the general public to look and never contact, WABI reported.

“There’s huge iron nails on there. I did not suppose these would nonetheless be uncovered,” customer Alissa Bischoff-York instructed the station.

In response to the Nationwide Park Service, on July 28, 1911, the Tay was navigating a treacherous shoreline throughout a robust storm when it struck a ledge and broke into items.

“Clinging on for pricey life to the damaged mast, the Tay’s crew waited until the tide went out so they might scramble to the security of the sandy seaside,” the park wrote.

A lot of the schooner’s cargo, about 90,000 toes of spruce planks, was washed ashore by the waves.

Finally the crew sought security in a house owned by the Satterlee household, who finally constructed a boathouse with salvaged lumber to honor the shipwreck.