FORT KENT – The flooding that hit the St. John Valley last week was so devastating that it wiped out “the flood guy.”

“All the equipment we had in our shop was completely destroyed,” owner Chris Michaud said Wednesday of his White Glove Cleaning, a Fort Kent cleaning service that handles flood-damage remediation. “The only things I have left is what’s in our vehicle.”

Michaud was among about 50 business owners and residents at the University of Maine at Fort Kent campus Wednesday seeking flood relief information from federal Small Business Administration officials and representatives from U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s office.

Flooding damaged or destroyed at least 30 businesses, Town Manager Donald Guimond said.

The attendees learned that state officials expect a decision from President Bush “any day now” on whether to declare a federal disaster area for The County and other parts of Maine hard-hit by the combined heavy rains and snowmelt.

That would free millions of dollars in federal aid for the estimated 535 damaged or destroyed structures in Aroostook and vastly expedite the relief process, which likely will take months. The buildings are in 13 County towns, including Eagle Lake, Fort Kent, Frenchville, Masardis, New Canada, Portage, Van Buren, Washburn and Island Falls.

“I think we’re probably within days of having a declaration,” said Rob McAleer, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency. “It’s my hope that we will have some sort of decision on some portion of this any day now.”

A tour today by Gov. John Baldacci and New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham might coincide with a presidential declaration. The two will tour both sides of the border, including downtown Fort Kent, starting at 10 a.m., state officials said.

Six Federal Emergency Management Agency teams that began on Tuesday inspecting damage in The County – where flooding hit the hardest – have already sent information to Washington, D.C., McAleer said Wednesday.

The six teams’ preliminary damage assessments will help determine whether Aroostook – and five other counties also assessed – qualify as disaster areas. The County teams consist of members from FEMA, MEMA, the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency, SBA and the Maine Warden Service.

If a disaster is declared, SBA will offer a wide range of tools – such as low-interest loans – to build new structures, clear damage and mitigate against future disasters. The loans will go to homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Several FEMA assessment teams working in Knox, Piscataquis, Somerset and Washington counties have finished assessing public property damage – roads, bridges, public buildings and other public infrastructures – while private property assessments in Aroostook will likely finish by Friday, McAleer said. Public property assessments in Aroostook should end by Monday.

That was good news to Michaud and fellow business owner Jason Carter of Fort Kent, whose wife’s graphic design business was destroyed by flooding that also damaged the Carter home.

“The process is there,” Michaud said. “It just depends on the president’s decision.”

“It’s going to take time for us to get back on our feet regardless of what the president does,” Carter said, “but at least there are people here now helping us. That’s what’s positive about this.”

Both men are trying to be patient.

“This will never happen fast enough for you when you’re in a situation like this, with the stress you are under and the emotions of it all,” said Michaud, who also lost his home and has spent several days living in a hotel.

Another stressor: Two days before the flooding, the Michauds had returned from the Southwest, where their daughter had successfully undergone her 25th spinal surgery, he said. Despite this, he and Carter considered themselves somewhat fortunate.

“No one died here,” Carter said. “We were lucky that way. The town will bounce back and the damage will be repaired. It will just take time.”

Also Wednesday, a team of FEMA specialists visited several sites within the Penobscot River watershed north of Bangor to assess damage to roads, bridges and public infrastructure. Another FEMA group was expected to conduct assessments at private homes in the area.

The FEMA infrastructure group assessed flood-related damage in Milford, Greenbush, Bradley and Old Town. In some spots, the high waters had washed out or damaged culverts. In others, the high water flooded fields containing mechanical equipment, resulting in oil spills and other contamination.

Part of Call Road in Milford was still unpassable on Wednesday.

But overall, this part of Penobscot County appears to have fared much better than its neighbors to the north and west since last week’s heavy rainstorms.

Michael Grant, a staff development specialist with MEMA who accompanied the federal group, said there are a large number of private, gravel roads that were damaged by the water.

Many of the areas the group visited are within the flood plain, so high water is nothing new, he said. But many residents told Grant that this was a historic flood.

Rivers and streams throughout the area remain high. Both the Penobscot and Mattawamkeag rivers were still flowing at roughly twice their average rate for this time of year.

In order to qualify for public assistance money from FEMA, Penobscot County will have to be declared a disaster area. It was unclear Wednesday whether the county will meet the threshold to trigger the designation, however.

“It’s way too soon to speculate on that,” Grant said.

BDN writer Kevin Miller contributed to this report.