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STODDARD — In the early evening mist Monday, Jean M. McLean shoveled sand into bags next to her small home on Stoddard’s Highland Lake.

The water had receded from its high mark of 3 inches up her outer walls, but she was still on alert.

McLean’s home on Stone Road is mere feet from the now-dry dike that was breached Sunday and about 100 feet from the usually calm dam that water now roars over.

A line of white sandbags snaked over the dike, through her yard, and up around her front door. Her house is closer to the town’s line of defense against floods than any other on Highland Lake.

“They’re warning people that got flooding that more could come later in the week,” she said wearily, leaning against the shovel. “ ... Firemen were here earlier, but I couldn’t let them do all the work.”

Stoddard escaped the bomb-like devastation that hit other northern Monadnock Region towns, but water remains high.

The roads are mostly dry, but six roads were accessible only by boat Monday, and portions are still flooded. Officials plan to staff their command center in Faulkner Elementary School — high on a hill above town — through Thursday.

If heavy rain hits the still-high lake and saturated ground, things could get a lot worse, Fire Chief Patricia “P.J.” Lamothe said.

The Stoddard Fire Department got its first flooded basement call Saturday afternoon, but the real activity didn’t begin until nearly midnight, she said.

People were reporting four or five feet of water in their basements, and the fire department was pumping in four places.

“At some point, we just stopped,” she said. “It was a losing battle.”

She doesn’t know when the dam was breached. The fire department got a call from someone early Sunday morning saying water was sneaking up to a house, and “that’s when we realized we could be in trouble,” she said. “You couldn’t even see the dam.”

McLean said she was out of her house by 4 a.m., panicked. Lake water crept higher than she’s ever seen it in her 16 years on the lake; rivers of water crossed Route 123, and firefighters had to lead her through the rushing water in the inky dark, she said.

“You could have sworn it was a stream coming down 123, not a road,” Lamothe said. “We had flooding in places we’ve never had flooding before.”

At some point, a 24-foot pontoon boat went over the dam and wedged up against the bridge over Shedd Hill Road, restricting water flow out of the lake, she said. The water rose more than 30 feet and rushed over and around the bridge, flooding the road until firefighters were able to redirect the flow with sandbags, she said.

A wrecker was able to pull the boat out before the bridge was damaged, she said.

By 6 a.m., the dam evacuation plan was put in place, and everyone in the approximately 50 houses between the fire station and Route 9 was warned to leave, Lamothe said. By Monday evening, two people remained on Treelyn Road.

William G. and Joan Forsyth held out until Monday, when they were evacuated by boat from their summer home. Water lapped at both the front and back doorsteps.

“They came back and the told us we had to go,” William Forsyth said. “They said it’s going to rain, and the water would be coming up again.”

Town officials have been sweeping the town regularly since Sunday, by truck and by boat, checking for loose debris and encouraging the final holdouts to leave their houses.

They’re telling non-residents not to come back for a week-and-a-half, as their houses may or may not be safe, Lamothe said.

“We haven’t been into houses because a lot of them aren’t year-round and don’t have foundations, so they may have shifted,” she said. “We’re waiting for the water to recede so we can check the structures for damage.”

Like many in the region, emergency workers have been going non-stop since Saturday, even with help from the Concord-area fire departments, Lamothe said.

Access to Stoddard only opened this morning. Previously, it was limited to Route 123 through Marlow, though that road was technically closed. Giant chunks of concrete had fallen away in places, narrowing the path to one lane.

Telephone and 911 service was restored Monday afternoon, while Public Service of New Hampshire workers swept the town disconnecting the still-functioning electricity from flooded houses.

Better than having to risk more electrical danger later in the week, Lamothe told the residents.

“We’re trying to prepare for the rains that are expected Wednesday,” she said.

RUN AGROUND — This pontoon boat broke free of its mooring on Highland Lake in Stoddard and was jammed by floodwaters under a bridge. The dam was barely visible as water spilled over the sides. Sand bags were deployed to protect the firehouse, which had become the command center.