JAY, Maine — People in Jay returned to normal life where they could Monday after an estimated 6 inches of rain dumped in three hours Thursday night.
On Look Brook Circle, a man mowed his lawn right up to what used to be the shoulder of the street. Now it's a 2-foot drop to clay below. He was lucky. His downhill neighbor opted for a tractor, as Thursday’s torrent slid mud and rocks across his yard, leaving few blades of grass in the wake.
But the tractor rider, who wished not to go on camera, said the town had hired an excavation company to fill in much of the destroyed section of road nearby, allowing residents to drive in and out.
Nearly 4 miles south, Wren Mafyrneen was happy to be at work at Label Shopper, even if it took extra effort to get there.
Mafyrneen said they live on a small street off Macomber Hill Road, a portion of which had been made into a canyon by the storm. Passersby on Friday remarked it was the worst damage they had seen in town. A quiet stream below quickly became a raging river Thursday, destroying pavement and dirt and hurling massive culverts 50 feet into the woods.
So, Mafyrneen and their friends have been driving north on a snowmobile trail that lets out near Route 2 in Wilton, just so they could then drive back south to Jay.
“It’s a funky little drive, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to keep living,” they said.
At least they’re staying safe.
While the Maine DOT had reopened all but one state road in Jay – Route 133 – Fire Chief Mike Booker said it would be months before the town roads were fully repaired. Making matters worse, he and his crews pulled at least five drivers from massive washouts over the weekend, noting they moved barricades, drove around them, or even drove around large dirt piles, all of which were placed there by firefighters and road crews.
“It’s been a nightmare since Thursday,” Booker said, sitting at a table in the fire station with a stack of papers, a phone, and two laptops in front of him. “It’s just hindering us, you know? It’s not letting us do our work.”
Back at Label Shopper, Mafyrneen maintained a positive attitude.
“I think part of it is just having a sense of humor about things and, you know, being very grateful,” they said. “Because, while yes, I’ve lost some things from the basement flooding, the rest of the house is fine. All of the animals are fine.”
Mafyrneen said friends planned to pick them up at the snowmobile trail that night and head to the Independence Day fireworks at nearby downtown Farmington.
Many folks in Jay worked to find moments of joy and normalcy in a town where it would likely take months for the area to return to normal.