The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Janet Mills is the governor of Maine.
Earlier this month, I requested that President Joe Biden issue another major disaster declaration after a severe, late-season nor’easter swept along our coast in April, inflicting millions in infrastructure damage across southern Maine.
Maine is no stranger to major storms or to working with federal partners to recover from their damage. But this latest request for a disaster declaration was the eighth I’ve made in the last two years — an unprecedented number in our state’s history.
The extreme storms that hammered us in December and January caused an estimated $90 million in damage to public infrastructure like roads, bridges and buildings in nearly every Maine county, and millions more to private properties, like working waterfronts. Many places and people are still picking up the pieces and grappling with how we can be better prepared in the future.
As a state, we’ve stood strong through these trying moments because of Maine people. For example, when Doug Hartkopf’s dairy barn was destroyed by strong winds this winter, his neighbors in Albion brought his cows to safety. When a fishing boat ran aground near Cape Elizabeth, fire and rescue crews braved the rough seas in the middle of the night to rescue all four people aboard. When the storms threatened to bring down J.O. Brown’s boatyard in North Haven, people stepped up to save it. After the storm passed, the boatyard was still standing, and Foy Brown told the Portland Press Herald: “It worked. It worked because the whole town turned out for us.”
While Maine people will always step up in times of need, our response must also include asking the hard questions about what we can, and must, do to strengthen our ability to withstand storms that are increasingly more severe and dangerous and that pose a real threat to our state’s critical infrastructure, economy and people.
None of us want a Maine where the wharves that support our fishermen and aquaculturists are washed away and not rebuilt; a Maine where historic downtowns are overtaken by rising floodwaters; a Maine where our mountain towns and their residents are trapped by flooding.
In this past legislative session, I proposed, and the Legislature enacted, a bill authorizing $60 million for rebuilding and recovery from the January and December storms — funding that is now available to apply for. This legislation represents the single largest investment in storm recovery by any administration in Maine history — a necessary response given the historic damage and destruction leveled against us by the winter storms.
But it’s clear to me, after signing my eighth request for a disaster declaration, that there is more work to do by the state, towns and cities, industries and businesses, community leaders and philanthropists, as well as utilities, to plan and prepare for future disasters like those we’ve just experienced.
On Tuesday, I will travel to Stonington, the hometown of my grandparents and a community hard hit in the January storms, to sign an executive order to establish a new commission to ask and answer these hard questions. The purpose of the commission will be to review and evaluate Maine’s response to the recent storms, to identify crucial areas for near-term investment and policy needs, and to develop the state’s first long-term infrastructure plan to ensure that we are ready for the harsh storms that we know are ahead.
The commission will travel across the state and work with communities, industries and organizations to understand the challenges following storms, the gaps in important resources like financing and insurance, and to consider how to improve our electric grid and energy systems — all with the goal of outlining what we need at the state and local levels to strengthen our infrastructure so that it can stand strong for generations to come.
The time is now for immediate steps to strengthen the ability of our towns, businesses and people to better withstand the impacts of a changing climate. My forthcoming commission will give us the foundation to do just that so we can protect the Maine we know, love and cherish for our children and grandchildren. I look forward to unveiling it.
