A man looks out toward the Atlantic Ocean at Fortunes Rocks Beach on Sept. 6, as large waves crashed onshore during post-tropical storm Hermine. The highest-annual tides, the King Tides, are expected to arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, bringing with them surges taller than 11 ft. ALAN BENNETT/Journal Tribune

A man looks out toward the Atlantic Ocean at Fortunes Rocks Beach on Sept. 6, as large waves crashed onshore during post-tropical storm Hermine. The highest-annual tides, the King Tides, are expected to arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, bringing with them surges taller than 11 ft. ALAN BENNETT/Journal Tribune

BIDDEFORD — The highest tides of the year are expected to arrive next week, and they could be coming just in time for a storm to hit. 

The “King Tides,” as the highest tides are known, are expected to surge on Tuesday and Wednesday, potentially bringing some flooding to coastal parts of the county, according to Tom Hawley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.  

Hawley said there is a possible storm on the horizon, and if it falls in conjunction with the tides, there is the potential for increased and expanded coastal flooding.

“Right now we are looking at the possibility of a storm off the east coast late Tuesday into early Wednesday morning. There is a chance for another storm Thursday or Friday,” Hawley said. “We’re going to have to watch it.”

Hawley said the King Tides are taller than normal because of a particular alignment of the moon with the sun and the Earth.

They’re typically nothing to sweat, Hawley said, because they’re just higher-than-average tidal occurrences. Without a storm, the tides at most usually result in splashes over of water at sea walls.

Some roads may also become flooded, Hawley said, and he specifically mentioned Granite Point and Mile Stretch Roads in Biddeford as possible flooding locations. He also said areas of Saco, such as Camp Ellis along the Saco River, may also see some flooding.

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The York County Emergency Management Agency will be deploying a drone aircraft to capture images of the tides, Roby Fecteau, Biddeford’s director of code enforcement and emergency management, said in a release Wednesday.

The craft will fly over the areas of Granite Point Road, Fortunes Rocks Beach and Biddeford Pool in efforts to support research and emergency planning efforts.

Fecteau said the highest tides will occur between mid-morning and early afternoon both days.

The highest tide at Camp Ellis on Tuesday is slated to occur at 10:59 a.m., and is expected to reach heights of 11.6 feet according to the U.S. Harbors tide chart.  Tides greater than 10 feet are expected later in the morning.

Hawley said coastal areas may see more serious road flooding and damage if the tides come in during a storm event, but residents shouldn’t’t board up their windows just yet.

“We’re not to the point where you’d have to board up. Make sure things are stuck down and windows are tightened and closed. I don’t know what else there is to do; it’s not like they’re preparing for a hurricane.”

Fecteau said in an interview Thursday that he anticipates only minor roadside flooding, and in the past has only seen water levels rise as high as people’s’ lawns. He said there could be some onshore tidal flow that would push the water up further, but doesn’t’t expect there to be any major issues.

“I don’t think at this time anybody should sound the alarm,” he said.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com. 


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