PORTLAND (WGME) — The state is looking at ways to protect Maine against destructive storms.
Severe storms and coastal surge in December and January left damage across Maine’s coastline, wiping out piers and buildings, like the historic fish shacks in South Portland.
They also ripped up roads in western Maine.
Rivers rose in central Maine, leaving behind millions of dollars in damage.
Tuesday, a new state commission put out an interim report with a long list of recommendations to make Maine more resilient.
It includes identifying infrastructure most at risk and improving data sharing about what’s at risk to help leaders make informed decisions.
“We need better resiliency, our small towns, our large towns, our infrastructure, needs a long-term capital plan to face the changes, more increases in storms, wind coming from different directions, sea level rise, flooding like we’ve never seen here on the Kennebec; so we have to do something, we can’t just stand by and let our communities be destroyed,” Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission Co-Chair Linda Nelson said.
Tuesday, the owner of a historic building on Water Street in Hallowell showed CBS13 the damage.
It’s home to businesses and apartments.
Flooding in December lifted the building from its foundation.
State officials say, in all, that storm and the January storms caused about $90 million in damage to infrastructure.