As Tropical Storm Irene ravaged the Maine coast Aug. 28, members of Lincoln County’s Emergency Management Agency calmly prepared for the worst from the 911 Communications Center in Wiscasset.
“You have to prepare yourself for the big event,” Deputy Director of Operations Ken Desmond said as he prepared for a vehicle sweep of the Boothbay and Pemaquid peninsulas.
Desmond said responders had been preparing for Irene for days as National Weather Service reports came in.
At 12 p.m., just as the heart of the storm was reaching Midcoast Maine, Lincoln County EMA Director Tim Pellerin held a conference call with all Lincoln County emergency service agencies, including those from Pittston, Farmingdale, and Randolph, towns in Kennebec County that often rely on Lincoln County EMA for dispatch services.
“Secure and standing by,” said the Southport Fire Department from the intercom, echoing other agencies preparing for the storm.
Other towns, such as Somerville and Whitefield, reported power outages, heavy rains, and lightening.
According to Pellerin, this was the first time that voice conferencing was used to help coordinate emergency services during a major event.
“That worked out good,” he said.
Pellerin said that prior to the utilization of voice conferencing, he would have to call each agency individually. The streamlined communications system made orchestrating the storm response much easier.
“We have all these pieces moving around today,” Pellerin said, stressing the difficulty of the operation.
Shortly after the conference call, reports of power outages and blocked roads came flooding in. Route 32 and 130 were hit first.
“We have a ton of roads coming in,” Pellerin said. He reported 587 people and six towns with power outages by 12 pm. By 5 p.m. that number had reached 26,000.
At 2 p.m., Desmond drove out on patrol to survey the situation on the ground. Aside from the occasional downed tree, and the reckless tourist racing to the beach to catch a glimpse of unusually high waves, the Boothbay and Pemaquid peninsulas appeared windy, but calm.
“We’re going to come out pretty okay,” Desmond said.
He stressed, however, that there was plenty of work still to be done.
“After the sun’s out there’s still work to be done,” he said.
After the storm, each town’s EMA fills out a Damage and Injury Assessment form to be submitted to MEMA, the Maine Emergency Management Agency. All damages over $103,000 can be reported to the state. Those reporting damages over the threshold are then eligible for MEMA and FEMA funds.
As of Tuesday, Lincoln County was still in damage assessment mode, Pellerin said.
Most work right now, he said, was removing debris from roads and buildings. No major damage was reported.
“If something like this could go smoothly, it did,” Pellerin said.
He pointed to the actions of Lincoln County’s first responders as the major reason for the successful operation.
“None of this would be happening if not for the first responders,” he said. “They’re the ones in the field, they’re the ones driving through this.”
