This weekend marks the two-year anniversary of major back-to-back storms that ravaged Maine’s coast, with the effects still being felt in some places.
CBS 13 reports that the storm on January 10th, 2024, hit during one of the biggest tides of the year, bringing in a 14-foot storm surge and setting near-records in Portland. The next storm on the 13th finally broke those records, with the city’s tide gauge settling out at 14.57 feet that day.
Flooding along the coastline cost the state and property owners millions of dollars’ worth of damage, notably taking down iconic centuries-old fishing shacks at South Portland’s Willard Beach, and destroying a pier and a boat house on Bailey Island.
In total, Maine Gov. Janet Mills estimated as much as $70 million in damages to the Pine Tree State.
The storm also had major impacts on the coastline itself, with increased chances of rip currents due to the rearranged seafloor ever since, and some impacted dunes not being restored to this day.
Since the storms, communities up and down Maine’s coast have been wrestling with how to deal with future storms due to global warming creating extreme weather.
“I remain convinced that the most significant challenge to Portland is out there” Portland Mayor Mark Dion said during a celebration of new climate initiatives along the city’s waterfront last month. “I will remain convinced that if we can address issues surrounding ocean sea level rising, preserving aquaculture, sustaining and supporting our lobster industry, it is in the best interest of Portland.”
To read the original CBS 13 article, click here.
