Damage has exceeded $7 million

By ELBERT AULL, Portland Press Herald Writer

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

E-mail this story to a friend

YORK COUNTY FLOODS WHERE TO TURN FOR HELP Maine's Flood Hotline: (800) 452-8735 For information on flood insurance, private wells and mold, as well as tips on repairing damaged homes and up-to-date road and bridge closures: www.maine.gov/meman For information about flooded wells: www.maine.gov Get It Done Construction of Sanford, 490-6245, has volunteered to pump water out of flooded basements in York and Strafford (N.H.) counties. FLOOD WATCH As the wild weather takes a break, York County residents and businesses focus on drying out, cleaning up and assessing the damage. Get complete news coverage and tips in Flood Watch To top of story

WELLS — Flooding earlier this week inflicted more than $7 million in damage on roads, bridges and other public property in York County, emergency management officials said Thursday. The initial estimate, which is based on reports from affected towns, is about five times the amount necessary to qualify for federal assistance. It doesn't include private-property losses, such as damage to homes and businesses.

Federal officials are scheduled to begin their damage assessments this morning, and the initial figures should allow Gov. John Baldacci to submit an official request for a disaster declaration today.

The request, which seeks access to federal aid that would fund three-fourths of area recovery costs, comes after a week of rain that forced evacuations, threatened dams and destroyed bridges through- out the county.

Ogunquit and York both reported $1.3 million in public property damage. Wells, with $2.4 million in damage, was the hardest-hit town, and some residents there dealt with the headache of flooded yards, basements and streets for another day Thursday.

"We've lived here since 1983 and it's never been like this," said Kristi Borst of Glenwood Road.

Borst's front yard was under a foot of water in some places, and her driveway was flooded. Her family moved its cars to neighbor Debbie Genereux's driveway earlier this week, when rising water threatened their garage.

When Borst's two daughters got ready for school Thursday morning, she said, they sloshed through their flooded lawn to Genereux's driveway in rain boots, got into their mother's car and changed into shoes.

"It's not anything we can't live with," she said.

With water levels dropping under sunny skies, public officials continued their efforts to secure federal relief aid for flooded communities.

An estimated 1,000 homes sustained some amount of water damage during the storm, while 500 residents were evacuated and 50 forced to seek refuge in area shelters.

State emergency management officials said the damage to public property exceeds the federal aid threshold - $1.4 million - by so much that Baldacci won't have to wait until federal teams conduct their own assessment to submit his request for a disaster declaration. The governor should have a disaster declaration request ready to go today, said Joy Leach, a Baldacci spokeswoman.

"We want to get the ball rolling on assistance as early as we can," said Bruce Fitzgerald, spokesman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency.

If the flood is labeled a major disaster, federal aid will cover 75 percent of the tab for cleanup costs, with the remaining 25 percent left to state and local governments.

A federal disaster declaration would be the 28th in Maine since 1954, and the 12th in the past decade, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency records.

This week's damage was significant in the context of past Maine disasters, said Charles Jacobs, assistant director of the state emergency management agency. The December 2003 floods in Canton, for example, caused around $1.5 million in infrastructure damage, Jacobs said.

A number of roads and at least four bridges remain closed from damages caused by this month's storm, which dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of York County. The Cape Neddick area of York got more than 15 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service posted a flood watch covering southern and western Maine for today and tonight.

A cold front approaching from the west, combined with a coastal storm moving up from the south, was expected to bring rain to most of New England.

Representatives from the federal Small Business Administration are scheduled to begin relief talks with chamber of commerce representatives at 9 a.m. at York County Community College in Wells. Several businesses along Railroad Avenue in York Beach sustained extensive flood damage during the storm.

State Sen. Nancy Sullivan, D-Biddeford, announced she has scheduled a meeting for area legislators Monday at the State House in Augusta. Representatives from the governor's office and the state Department of Transportation will be on hand to discuss damages and talk about readiness for future storms, she said in a statement.

In Wells, Borst and Genereux said they'll continue to find ways to deal with all of the minor inconveniences.

Borst, whose family bought flood insurance Monday, said she worries the standing water will make the area's mosquito problem worse and damage her driveway.

Genereux rescheduled a birthday party for one of her two sons because of the floods.

"He's pretty cool," she said of her son, who turned 12 Wednesday. "He understands."

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

To top of page