Feds approve Maine’s request to begin storm disaster assessment
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
The federal government has approved Maine’s request to begin a preliminary disaster assessment after last week’s devastating wind storm.
That marks the first formal step toward Maine requesting President Joe Biden to declare the wind storm a major disaster, the governor’s office said Tuesday afternoon. The federal disaster declaration would unlock additional funds and resources for the recovery effort.
“We welcome this quick approval from FEMA and look forward to working with them to validate damage from the storm so that we can request a Major Disaster Declaration from the President as soon as possible,” Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement.
The wind storm that hit Maine on Dec. 18 left a path of destruction in its wake, flooding dozens of communities as they were inundated with several inches of rain. That rain falling on already saturated soil coupled with winds that reached speeds up to 93 mph in some communities brought down trees and power lines, leaving more than 420,000 without electricity and heat by the time the storm subsided. Power was restored to most Mainers by Christmas, about a week after the storm hit.
At least four people were killed during the storm. One man was killed by a falling tree in Fairfield, another man was killed by a falling tree in Windham and two women were swept away by flood waters in Mexico.
Mills declared a state of emergency on Dec. 19.
The Maine Emergency Management Agency is working with locals to estimate the cost of the storm’s damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will review and validate that estimate. If FEMA confirms the cost of the storm is beyond what the state can address alone, Mills can request Biden to issue a disaster declaration, according to the governor’s office.
State officials are urging Mainers to call 211 to report property damage from the storm. Calling the hotline to report property damage isn’t an application for assistance, and officials urged Mainers to ensure they file claims for home or vehicle damage.
“Validating damage is a critical step in the process of unlocking Federal funding to help Maine communities, so we continue [to] ask the public to report storm and flood damage by calling 2-1-1,” MEMA Director Pete Rogers said in a statement.