PENOBSCOT COUNTY, Maine — Mainers are bracing for yet another winter storm that is predicted to have high winds, some snow, and heavy rain, but public safety leaders in Penobscot County and representatives from Versant Power said the incoming storm will likely cause a setback for active recovery efforts that began after the mid-December storm.
Several Mainers are still trying to reset after a storm hit the state on Dec. 18, causing widespread damage.
Penobscot Emergency Management Agency Director Bradley Nuding said while completing risk assessments, emergency management teams, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state politicians and leaders found severe flood and property damage.
Nuding said many roofs were completely ripped off of homes and businesses, some residential and commercial properties are unlivable or closed due to flood damage, and he said it's hard to estimate how long it will take several areas in the state to reach full restoration.
"It's difficult to recover from one while preparing for another one," Nuding said. "Recovery looks different depending on who you are. and it can take a much longer time for a lot of people who still have unmet needs."
Nuding said some home and business owners were able to make temporary repairs, but the cost to fix all of the destruction to buildings and public properties varies.
"We have seen many municipalities—businesses put forth some temporary solutions to kind of get them by until they can get a contractor to come out and make some permanent repairs," Nuding said.
Nuding says with another winter storm moving in, restoration work across the state will be forced to pause, and it will ultimately be delayed.
Versant Power communication director Tina Morrill said the December storm left several utility poles snapped. She said some poles that were damaged were braced or supported as a temporary fix as the company waits to receive shipments of special equipment needed for permanent repairs.
She said the temporary repairs are safe, but not permanent. Morrill said crews will continue to replace braced or supported poles over a span of weeks.
"Our crews work really hard to get the most customers online," Morrill said. "They look at circuits that power the most customers at the same time."
Morrill said more than 250 internal and external crews worked to restore power to some 100,000 customers over a six-day period after the last storm.
Additionally, Versant reported that approximately 100 customers need to have electricians repair their home or properties individual service lines before crews can come restore their service.
Morrill said roadside inspections were scheduled this week to inspect nearly 1,000 miles of line that was impacted by the storm, but depending on the damage and outages that may be onset by Wednesday’s storm, inspections may be put on hold so crews can focus on restoration. Furthermore, all repairs for prior damage will most likely be halted.
"During any storm event, our crews prioritize and work on the outages in the storm event that we're in—and it may delay progress from before," Morrill said.
For Mainers like Andrew Madsen, many are hopeful that this storm doesn't have as much of impact as the last.
"We were without power for four days, and we probably about 24 hours from a pipe starting to burst," Madsen said.
Morrill said if the ground does not frost before predicted strong winds blow in, there may be more extensive tree damage in store as well.
"If we don't have frost in the ground yet, and we get saturated like we have, those trees can't stay," Morrill said. "So once the wind starts moving them, especially some of these older pine trees that we're so prominent in our state, they tend to find their way unfortunately across roadways across houses that we've seen."
Morrill said Versant will have more than one hundred crews ready to begin restoration efforts once the storm passes through.