WELLS, Maine — Crews around Maine are struggling to keep up with one storm after another as they try to clean up damage along the coastline.
"Now they're out plowing snow, so we’re all a little tired. But that’s okay. That’s what we do," Wells Public Works Director Carol Murray said.
Murray said her crews have been working long hours the past few days, but have made significant progress on cleanup along the oceanfront.
“We’ve probably done a week's worth of work in about three days," she said.
Webhannet Drive is the only road in Wells still closed as part of the roadway washed away during Saturday's storm, Murray said. She hopes the road will be back in service in the next two weeks or so. Webhannet Drive has annual problems with washouts, so the town plans to add protective measures, like pouring a concrete wall—to prevent the water from seeping under the pavement and lifting it.
On top of repairs and debris cleanup, she said removing snow is just another thing to add to the list.
“We didn’t need this. This will set us back a little bit," Murray said.
It's a fatigue hitting public works crews in many towns along the coast, all dealing with storm recovery.
"The last 10 days have been incredibly busy," Matt Philbrick, the operations manager for the Kennebunkport Highway Department, said. "They're running on minimal sleep, and they're doing a great job. They're actually keeping up with a lot of the issues showing up around town."
Kennebunkport crews are fixing washouts and structural issues to roads along the oceanfront. Philbrick said he estimates about a month's-worth of cleanup ahead.
"It seems like they're working long hours, but we're used to winters where we're working 12-18 hours or 24 hours at a time. Just the precipitation has changed. It's not snow. It's rain. It's wind. It's weird tidal events," Philbrick said. "It's definitely a huge change in the last five years of what we're used to."
Both, Wells and Kennebunkport's Public Works crews are at full staff, according to Murray and Philbrick.
"For people to be able to get about life, they need transportation to function. So, that’s what we’re trying to do. Give them roads and bridges that they can get around on and get things done," Murray said.