An overnight storm that brought high winds and severe coastal flooding to Harpswell sank at least one boat and grounded two others, washed away docks and piers, and caused major damage to homes and other buildings.
The storm, which also downed trees and power lines, left behind roughly a foot of pooled water on the causeway to Potts Point in South Harpswell, stranding residents with vehicles too small to traverse the flooding, a town official said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 10, town officials still were assessing damage from the storm, which began Tuesday night, but they could already tell it was unprecedented for a single storm.
“I don’t have exact numbers, but … people’s piers have been washed away in some instances,” town Harbor Master Paul Plummer said in a phone interview. “Floats that were stored up on shore for the winter got lifted right up by the surge and pulled out. Seawalls have been damaged — it’s just unbelievable.”
The town dock at Potts Point also appeared to have taken severe damage, he said, adding that he hoped another storm forecast for this coming weekend wouldn’t finish it off.
“I’m surprised it’s still standing, to be honest with you,” Plummer said.
Local emergency crews had responded to 10 storm-related calls as of late morning, including eight calls involving downed trees and power lines, and two gas leaks caused by dislodged tanks, Harpswell Fire Administrator Michael Drake said in a phone interview.
In addition, a home on Linnell Drive on Bailey Island was “severely damaged” by flooding, he said.
“Waves coming in crashed through the hurricane shutters, flooded the home and washed away the propane tanks,” Drake said, adding that emergency crews reportedly were able to shut off and secure the dislodged tanks.
Several homes along Washington Avenue on Bailey Island, near the Giant’s Stairs trail, also suffered unexpected damage from the storm, Plummer said.
“It actually ripped parts of walls off the front of those houses; it blew out windows,” he said. “In a sad way, it’s pretty amazing.”
Fallen trees pin utility cables on Bayview Road, Orr’s Island, on Wednesday, Jan. 10. High winds overnight left nearly half of Harpswell without power. (Jeffrey Good photo)
Flood waters wash ashore at Graveyard Point, South Harpswell, across from Estes Lobster House and the causeway to Potts Point, on Wednesday, Jan. 10. (John Loyd video)
Flood waters threaten the town dock at Potts Point, South Harpswell, on Wednesday, Jan. 10. (Mike Dana video)
The storm also caused significant damage to boats and marine infrastructure.
Plummer said the owner of the Jacob Pike, an aging, 60-foot sardine boat anchored near Dingley Island, “called last night to say that it sank.” He added that removing the sunken boat will likely cost the owner well over $10,000.
Two lobster boats north of Dolphin Marina broke loose from their moorings Tuesday night and were tossed high up on the rocky shore, where they remained as of early Wednesday afternoon.
“I hear they’re waiting for the next big tide (to refloat them), and let’s hope that it gets that high,” Plummer said. “The only reason the boats got that high this time is because the surge pushed them that high.”
Plummer said the storm left behind about 12 inches of pooled water near the former Estes Lobster House property at the causeway connecting Harpswell Neck to Potts Point.
He said it would likely require action by the Maine Department of Transportation to remove the water, which has nowhere to drain naturally. In the meantime, some residents said they would be unable to traverse the flooding.
“I assume the state’s going to have to pump it out or create some sort of way to drain it,” Plummer said. “When I was at the town dock, I was talking to a couple of residents who have small cars — they feel trapped.”
The storm also caused power outages to about half of Harpswell.
According to Central Maine Power’s online outage list, about 2,250 of Harpswell’s 4,750 power customers in Harpswell were without power as of 9:30 a.m. That number had been reduced to about 900 customers as of 2:45 p.m.
Harpswell was one of only three communities in Cumberland County with significant power outages Wednesday morning, the other two being Brunswick, with 3,300, and Scarborough, with 2,800. Countywide, just under 9,100 out of 176,850 CMP customers lost power. All but 1,300 had their power restored by mid-afternoon.
Statewide, about 14,300 of CMP’s 674,200 customers were without power as of 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, along with about 14,500 of Versant Power’s 166,650 customers in Down East, central and northern Maine.
Tuesday night’s storm arrived just a few weeks after a previous storm on Dec. 18 caused outages along the coast that in some areas took days to repair. Nearly all of Harpswell lost power temporarily. That storm also caused major flooding and road damage.
Plummer said he hoped the federal government would step in and provide financial relief to the town, which appears to have suffered extremely costly damage to both public and private property.
“We can only hope that (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) is going to step in and provide some assistance for us,” he said, adding that destructive weather events — particularly those caused by strong easterly winds — are becoming more common in Harpswell.
“We installed (new, sturdier) channel markers at the Cribstone Bridge … after last year’s Christmas storm … bent the old ones in half,” Plummer said. “Last summer, we spent most of the summer trying to replace those things, and — wouldn’t you know it? — it happened again. (Tuesday night’s storm) literally bent them over.”
According to the National Weather Service, Harpswell received about 2 inches of rain Tuesday night and early Wednesday, followed by gradual clearing. Overnight winds reached 35 miles per hour, with gusts up to nearly 70 mph.
The weather remained breezy Wednesday with southwest winds of 15-25 mph and gusts of up to 40 mph, according to the weather service, with a high temperature of 49 degrees.
Have a comment or news tip? Email J. Craig Anderson at craig@harpswellanchor.org.
