POPHAM BEACH, Maine — Mainers have spent the past several days assessing what's left after back-to-back storms ripped through Maine's coastal communities.
Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg is just another destination impacted by the forceful tides and wind on Saturday. "Mother Nature... fascinating also terrifying," Sean Vaillancourt, the park manager at Popham Beach State Park, said Wednesday.
Vaillancourt said there's significant damage to the beach's dunes, as waves eroded up to 10 feet to the dunes.
The tides also dramatically shifted the sand, washed away a picnic area, and damaged trees that have sat here for hundreds of years, he said.
"Along this whole beach, we actually had stake and twine, and we have snow fencing and stuff. All that stuff has to come out and be replaced again," Vaillancourt said as he's estimating cleanup will take months. "It'll be quite a bit of work to do."
Bath resident Joanna Conathan visits Popham Beach year-round.
"It's different though, today. It’s the first time I've seen it since the storm, so it’s pretty much flattened out and the waterways are different right now and the sand bars are configured differently," Conathan said.
One business in Phippsburg decided to do some of the heavy lifting before Saturday's storm with hopes to avoid as much damage as possible.
Spinneys Restaurant & Lodging Manager Molly Cooper said they placed boulders along the seawall ahead of Saturday, which left the buildings nearly untouched. The restaurant will need to rebuild its porch and parking lot, but she said adding boulders prevented more serious damage.
"Wednesday's storm was pretty significant. The waves kind of came up and over the road here and into the parking lots, and that’s what really took the brunt of the damage here," she said. "Then Saturday's storm kind of round it all out. Luckily, the work we did between the two storms to help secure the seawall definitely helped a lot, and it saved our building."
While the state park has months of repairs ahead, Vaillancourt said they'll need to repair certain areas so it's ready for the summer. In February, the park is coincidentally starting a new project to help restore the dunes where they’ll strategically place Christmas trees along the dune wall to help pull sand back and stabilize what's left.