‘Ocean at Highest I’ve Ever Seen It’ – Tide Swamps New Hampshire Seacoast

💧Most roads have reopened in Hampton after the high tide at noon.

💧"We had water where most of us haven't seen it before," Hampton Fire Chief Michael McMahon said.

💧The sea during high tide also brought rocks and driftwood to the street.

On Saturday, the high tide inundated beaches and roads up and down the coast, bringing water to unprecedented levels.

Streets in Hampton started filling with water and sea foam late in the morning as high tide approached. The NOAA's Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service shows the ocean cresting at 13.7 feet, nearly three feet above major flood stage. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (Seavey Island) crested at 13.17 feet, which is two feet above flood stage.

Hampton Fire Chief Michael McMahon, who is also the town's Emergency Management Director, told Seacoast Current that Saturday's flooding was worse than Wednesday. By late afternoon, the water began to recede. McMahon expects some roads to be damaged by the water, although a damage assessment has not yet been done.

"There's certainly still a great many private vehicles that are damaged and private properties with some level of damage. We haven't got out to make that assessment yet," McMahon said.

Don't power your home back up immediately

The chief advised anyone who finds water in electrical outlets and appliances to get it check out by an electrician before powering back up.

"We had water where most of us haven't seen it before," McMahon said.

Many of the roads into Hampton that closed in anticipation of the flooding have reopened, including Ocean Boulevard and Winnacunnet Road. Route 101 eastbound reopened to Brown Avenue, onto Island Path, Ashworth Avenue, and Ocean Boulevard.

North Shore at Cusack Road was closed when a tree branch fell onto a house, while also bringing down wires, according to Hampton Police.

Stuck in the basement

Seacoast Current talked to Hampton resident Scott Corriveau while he was temporarily unable to leave his basement.

Corriveau, who lives on Pearl Street two blocks from Ocean Boulevard, said the water contained mailbox-size rocks. At the back of his property is Tide Mill Creek.

"Not only did the tide go up and fill that up, but the ocean from coming over so much sent a river coming from the east towards me," Corriveau said. "Right now I am stuck in my basement because if I open the doors, it will equalize the water outside to the 12 or 13 inches of water that I have inside."

Corriveau anticipates losing his dryer and freezer to the flood water.

"I saw the ocean at its highest I've ever seen it," resident Scott Corriveau told Seacoast Current. "We have a concrete barrier that stops the water from coming over. And it's curved, it's concave. When the wave hits it, it sends it back out. These waves were acting like the wall wasn't there."

Yacht club cut off

Portsmouth Yacht Club Commodore Dan Gingras wrote on the club's Facebook page, sharing that the house was flooded and the island where the club is located is cut off.

"I was in the building and the floor was moving up and down and the house shaking," Gingras wrote.

Route 1B between New Castle and Portsmouth was closed as water covered most of the causeway.

The Players Ring Theatre in Portsmouth was forced to cancel its remaining performances this weekend of "You, Me, and the Woodsmoke" due to flood damage, according to its Facebook page. A photo showed water covering the sidewalk.

Wells was hit hard with both flooding and power outages. Video posted to the Wells Police Facebook page showed large debris floating on Webhannet Drive, and Drakes Island Road underwater.

Central Maine Power's outage list showed nearly 5,000 customers in York County without power as of 5:10 p.m., with over 1,600 in Wells. 1,600 customers in Kennebunk also had no power.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via X (Twitter) @DanAlexanderNH