High winds, heavy rains, and a storm surge combined to damage shorefront properties and leave thousands of Lincoln County residents without electricity as dawn broke Wednesday, Jan. 10.
According to Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency Director Maury Prentiss the winter storm left a significant amount of property damage behind along the coast. As of Wednesday afternoon, Prentiss said his office is still inspecting storm damage and has not determined a dollar amount.
Most of the roads in the county that were closed by falling trees or downed power lines during the storm were reopened quickly, led by Central Maine Power Co., which had a number of work crews in the area ready to work, Prentiss said.
The exceptions are roads right along the coast, such Route 32 in Chamberlain, according to Prentiss. He said he has heard a report that Shore Road and Ocean Point Road in Boothbay were damaged but remain open to local residents and emergency vehicles.
In Damariscotta, the 9:50 a.m. high tide swamped areas in the town’s municipal parking lot, threatening business in the area and briefly closing of a section of Bristol Road near Days Cove.
As of 10 a.m., 5,612 Lincoln County residents remained without electricity with the majority of outages reported in Bristol, Damariscotta, and Nobleboro, according to Central Maine Power Co.
In Bristol, properties in the villages of Chamberlain and New Harbor incurred significant damage. The storm surge washed out a portion of Route 32 in Chamberlin and the road has been closed off to through traffic.
Several structures along the New Harbor shore, including docks and boat houses, were torn off their pilings by the surge.
In Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park, the east-facing wall of a small brick structure was knocked down during the storm.
In The Gut in South Bristol, Osier’s Wharf was flooded and docks along Roderick Road were torn from their pilings. A boathouse in the same cove, being worked on by local contractors, was also lost in the surge.
The Lincoln County News will update this story.
