Current:Home > FinanceThis photo shows the moment Maine’s record high tide washed away more than 100-year-old fishing shacks -FinanceAcademy
This photo shows the moment Maine’s record high tide washed away more than 100-year-old fishing shacks
View
Date:2025-04-13 10:09:52
MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — A record high tide in Maine washed away three historic fishing shacks that had stood since the 1800s and formed the backdrop of countless photographs.
Michelle Erskine said she was visiting fisherman’s point at Willard Beach in South Portland on Saturday when she captured video footage of the last two wooden shacks sliding into the ocean.
“Oh no. They’re both going. Oh no!” she can be heard saying on the video.
Erskine, who has lived in South Portland all her life, said her son had his senior photos taken at the shacks and wedding parties often visited them.
“It’s truly a sad day for the community and the residents of South Portland,” Erskine said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday. “History is just being washed away.”
The shacks, owned by the city of South Portland, had just undergone a facelift in October when they were repainted.
They were the last in a series of fishing shacks that predate the city’s incorporation after they were first built along the shore and then moved to their most recent location in the 1880s. Erskine said they once housed lobster traps and fishing gear. Two shacks were destroyed in an earlier storm in 1978.
A record 14.57-foot (4.4-meter) high tide was measured in Portland, Maine, just after noon on Saturday, after a storm surge amplified what was already the month’s highest tide, said National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Cempa. That broke the previous record of 14.17 feet (4.3 meters) set in 1978 and was the highest since measurements began in 1912. Cempa said the tide gauge measures the difference between the high tide and the average low tide.
The surge flooded some homes in Orchard Beach and Kennebunkport in Maine, and Hampton Beach in New Hampshire. It came just days after a previous storm damaged one of Maine’s most beloved lighthouses which is featured on the state quarter.
“Very sadly, all three fishing shacks at Willard Beach have been completely destroyed,” the city wrote on its Facebook page.
But the South Portland Historical Society sounded a note of hope, saying on social media that it had prepared for such an event by last year enlisting architects and engineers to create drawings “so that everything would be in place to build reproductions of the shacks, if needed.”
The society is asking for donations to rebuild.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- 'Shirley': Who plays Shirley Chisholm and other politicians in popular new Netflix film?
- Where is Gonzaga? What to know about Bulldogs' home state, location and more
- This is how reporters documented 1,000 deaths after police force that isn’t supposed to be fatal
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Baltimore bridge collapse and coping with gephyrophobia. The fear is more common than you think.
- Usher has got it bad for Dave's Hot Chicken. He joins Drake as newest celebrity investor
- Ruby Franke’s Husband Kevin Reveals Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Authorizing sports betting in Georgia may lack needed votes from lawmakers
Ranking
- 'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
- Punxsutawney Phil, the spring-predicting groundhog, and wife Phyliss are parents of 2 babies
- The colonel is getting saucy: KFC announces Saucy Nuggets, newest addition to menu
- GOP-backed bill proposing harsher sentences to combat crime sent to Kentucky’s governor
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- Women's Sweet 16: Reseeding has South Carolina still No. 1, but UConn is closing in
- US changes how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity. It’s the first revision in 27 years
- 'Shirley': Who plays Shirley Chisholm and other politicians in popular new Netflix film?
Recommendation
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
The 50 Most Popular Amazon Items E! Readers Bought This Month: Viral Beauty, Kyle Richards' Picks & More
Upgrade Your Meals with These Tasty Celebrity Cookbooks, from Tiffani Thiessen to Kristin Cavallari
Biden fundraiser in NYC with Obama, Clinton nets a whopping $25M, campaign says. It’s a new record
Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
A man fired by a bank for taking a free detergent sample from a nearby store wins his battle in court
Israel and Hamas war rages despite U.N. cease-fire demand, as U.N. envoy accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza
Two women injured in shooting at Virginia day care center, police say