It’s been a year since floodwaters swallowed coastlines across the Boothbay region, but the damage was still fresh in the minds of attendees at Boothbay Region Climate Action Team (BRCAT)’s outreach event on Feb. 27 at the YMCA. The team's goal was to educate the community about king tides, share resources about storm preparedness and get feedback on people's concerns. 

What are king tides? According to a meeting handout, king tides are exceptionally high tides that exceed normal high tide levels and can cause coastal flooding and erosion. They were one of the culprits behind the severity of last year’s January and April storms. However, king tides are not caused by storms. 

Instead, they are the product of two concurrent planetary events. 1.) Tides are controlled by the position of the moon in relation to the Earth, and full or new moons cause higher than normal tides called “spring tides.” 2.) Once every 28 days, the moon is at its “perigee,” meaning its closest position to Earth.  

When a full or new moon occurs at the same time as perigee, it causes a king tide. Rising sea levels caused by climate change exacerbate king tides. The predictions for 2025’s king tides are March 30, April 26 –29, May 25-27, Oct. 7-11, Nov. 4-9 and Dec. 3-6.  

Attendees were then given an opportunity to share their main concerns, which included being cut off from emergency services, long-term infrastructure damage to roads and bridges, home flooding, and lack of knowledge of local response strategies.  

“I think the issue that is happening right now throughout the United States, is that we want government to act now,” said Lenore Imhof, BRCAT representative. But direct action can be complicated by legislation, zoning rules and operation procedures, she says.

There is also uncertainty right now for communities who may no longer being getting promised Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds due to the recent federal funding freeze.  

“So, when you're dealing with local communities, (the question is) do they have the resources or means by which to address some of these monumental issues that are facing us?” 

In the meantime, BRCAT shared federal, state and local resources that the public can consult when preparing for a weather event in the form of a regularly updated document.  

They also encouraged the community to share their king tides photos with the Maine Geological Survey and Gulf of Maine King Tides Project, which are conducting studies into the effects of the tides on the coastlines.  

BRCAT will hold another community meeting on Sat. March 8, 1: 30 – 2:30 p.m. at the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library.