Making Maine Communities Resilient to Catastrophic Weather Events

August 28, 2024

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

As you know, last December, heavy rains and powerful winds brought massive flooding that destroyed homes and businesses, roads and bridges, all across Maine. Four people lost their lives.

The Androscoggin River surged above its banks, submerged streets and forced local officials to evacuate at least 150 people. River Road in Lewiston was nearly impassable.

Well, I was pleased to announce that my administration is providing the funding that Lewiston needs to fortify River Road and make it less likely to flood in the future. We're also providing funding to other communities across Maine so they can rebuild from the severe storms of December and January and become more resilient to future catastrophic weather events.

In 2021, we created the Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund to provide grants to municipalities, tribal governments, and others, to improve infrastructure that might be vulnerable to flooding or rising sea levels and other extreme weather events - the type of upgrades that will help communities better withstand the storms that we're seeing now.

Earlier this year, I proposed, and the Legislature approved, dedicating $60 million to the Infrastructure Adaptation Fund for storm relief, the largest investment in storm relief in state history. I recently announced that my administration is awarding $25.2 million in storm recovery grants through that fund to 39 different communities across Maine, including the city of Lewiston. Lewiston will use its $200,000 grant to replace two corrugated metal pipe culverts on River Road to accommodate heavy water flow and reduce the possibility of flooding.

The Plantation of Matinicus will use its $75,000 grant to adapt a section of Harbor Road and improve the resiliency of the island's working waterfront. That island's harbor was covered with debris and with damaged fishing gear after the storms in December and January.

The Rumford-Mexico Sewer District will use its $4 million grant to renovate its wastewater pumping station and to install a series of flood-proofing measures. Dozens of residents in Rumford and Mexico were displaced four days after the December storm flooded their homes. After the storm, Rumford's economic development manager, George O'Keefe, said "We respect nature and we respect that the river is going to do things we can't control. Climate poses some pretty serious challenges in inland Maine."

These new Infrastructure Adaptation grants will help communities like Rumford recover from last winter's storms and upgrade their infrastructure to better prepare those communities for the future impacts of climate change.

My Administration will continue to work closely with towns and cities across Maine to protect our people, our communities, our businesses, and our economy from the destructive impacts of climate change.

I thank the municipalities and citizens across Maine, as well as the Maine Legislature for their partnership in this important work.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.