FORT KENT – Christine Chasse shoveled copious amounts of snow this winter. She was still using her shovel Thursday, but this time to move water out of her garage while cleaning up from flooding that turned her front yard into a lake and her basement into a swimming pool.

Behind her home, the rain-swollen St. John River raged. Next door, the flooded Fish River was largely kept at bay by a hastily built earthen berm. The wooden stairs to her basement bobbed up and down in waters that nearly reached the first-floor living area.

Facing a big mess, Chasse realized she was lucky.

Nearby, the landmark St. Louis Catholic Church that Chasse attends was flooded, along with more than 100 homes and businesses, after the St. John River hit a record high and overflowed its banks. Police Chief Kenneth Michaud said it could be this weekend before people are allowed to return to their flooded residences.

“I’m very sad to see the church under water, and I realize there are some people worse off than us,” Chasse said as she used the shovel to move water and debris from her property.

Emergency management officials echoed her view: Despite record high waters, the town’s levee held and the International Bridge withstood the flood. A failure of either the levee or a collapse of the bridge would have sent even more water pouring into the downtown.

As it was, the flooding was bad enough.

About 1,000 residents were evacuated and as many as 140 homes were flooded. Driving around Aroostook County was a challenge because so many bridges and roads were closed.

The St. John peaked early Thursday at 30.14 feet – about 5 feet above flood stage – at Fort Kent before the water slowly began to recede, said Greg Stewart of the U.S. Geological Survey. The river’s previous record crest of 27.3 feet was set in 1979.

Forecasters predicted the river would fall below flood stage on Friday morning. But residents won’t be allowed to return to their homes near Main Street until the water recedes enough for the Army Corps of Engineers to inspect the levee and the Department of Transportation to inspect the International Bridge, Michaud said.

The spring flooding realized the worst fears of emergency management officials after a winter in which some parts of northern Maine saw more than 200 inches of snow. Despite the melting snow, it seemed that the region had dodged heavy floods until 3 to 4 inches of rain fell on Tuesday.

That deluge, combined with melting snow, sent rivers and streams rising across northern Maine.

Elsewhere, flood warnings were issued for portions of the Penobscot, Kennebec, Aroostook, St. Francis and Mattawamkeag rivers. Small numbers of evacuations were reported in Van Buren, Wallagrass, Milford and Masardis.

More than 100 state roads and dozens of local roads were shut down or had lanes closed because of flooded waterways or heavy rains that fell this week, said Lynette Miller, a spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency. Four bridges – two in Fort Kent and one apiece in Van Buren and Moro Plantation – were also closed.

Gov. John Baldacci, who declared a state of emergency Tuesday night and flew from Augusta to get a firsthand look at the floodwaters on Wednesday, requested aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The National Guard was activated to provide assistance, as well.

On Thursday after speaking with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Baldacci said the federal response had been good.

“Secretary Chertoff wanted to make sure that we are receiving the assistance we need. We have,” Baldacci said in a statement.

Baldacci also said he spoke with New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham of New Brunswick and that the state and province “are both committed” to reopening the International Bridge “if it can be deemed safe.”

The Maine Emergency Management Authority was preparing damage assessments with an eye toward making a request for a federal disaster declaration, Miller said.

Emergency management officials praised local authorities Thursday for acting quickly with mandatory evacuations that were credited with protecting residents.

In the end, no one was hurt.

At Quigley’s Building Supply, the waters filled the lumber yard in less than half an hour, sending lumber downriver and putting the yard under 12 feet of water.

Manager Justin Dubois was philosophical about the losses. “It’s frustrating but at least everyone’s OK. Everything is replaceable,” he said.

Rose Michaud said many residents knew that there was a problem when sheets of rain pelted the region Tuesday. And people had to evacuate in a hurry when authorities went door to door Wednesday morning. Some left behind clothes, medicine and – in at least one case – false teeth.

“When they came, they said, ‘Do it now,”‘ said Michaud, who left with toiletries and some clothes and took up residence in a motel, where she wondered how she’d run her cleaning business and cut checks next week.

Diane Pinette said her son had to leave his home in downtown Fort Kent and her husband had to spend the night of his birthday in Madawaska because of floods prevented him from getting home from work.

The flooding added insult to injury after a harsh winter, Pinette said. Just five weeks ago, she had snow up to the top of her first-floor window. Now the snow is melted, but downtown is flooded. “It has been a long winter,” she said. “It has just been one after another. People are tired.”

Some were pleasantly surprised that the flooding wasn’t worse.

Bob Michaud, who was given 30 minutes to evacuate Gene’s Electronics the day before, returned Thursday to find that there was no water in the business.

“I was thinking from what I saw on TV that there would be a foot of water on the floor,” said Michaud, who’d scrambled to move his goods to the second floor.

Bob Bonenfant, president of Roger’s Sports Center on Main Street, said the dike is doing its job.

“We are dry so we can count our blessings,” he said.