Castine recovers from one storm and braces for another
CASTINE, Maine (WABI) - “It was an incredible storm event somewhat of a perfect storm for Castine in that it came from the right direction right at high tide,” said Shawn Blodgett, Castine town manager.
Towns along Maine’s coast were hit hard during Wednesday’s storm, including Castine -- another town cleaning up quite a mess.
“Our dock is divided into two main parts. We had our town dock area over here and we had our Acadia dock over here, our town dock area, the planking and the connecting timber underneath our planking to our pilings was largely destroyed,” said Blodgett.
“In the middle of the storm, we were watching it. It was just shocking to see destruction live,” said Daniel Leader, Select Board member.
“For our little town, having a working waterfront is so key for our tourism industry, our actual like waterfront industry, so everything kind of relies on that epicenter that we built the town around,” said Matt Powell, co-owner and managing innkeeper of the Pentagoet Inn.
With another strong storm expected to hit the coast again Saturday, the town is working against the clock.
“We’re assessing the damage and doing immediate repairs on the damage from Wednesday storm while at the same time preparing for Saturday,” said Blodgett.
“We just filled hundreds of sandbags, which are being distributed in vulnerable areas around the town. Anything that needs shoring up in the next 24 hours is going to be shored up and we’ve got, we’ve got probably a couple 100 volunteers here,” said Leader.
While assessing current damages and working with officials for possible recovery funding, it will still be a long road.
“We’re mobilizing all the efforts that we can, but we need money now to fix things,” said Leader.
“Being a new member of this community, having only moved here two years ago, I am truly astounded at the way that Mainers come together. The fact that we were all communicating with each other and we are all willing to pitch in and drop whatever we’re doing to prepare for the next storm and then regroup and say what do we need to do as a town to rebuild? It is so heartening and it gives me hope we are going to rebuild,” said Powell.
Gov. Janet Mills is urging people to report storm damage to their county’s emergency management agency.
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