Hurricane

Description:

A hurricane is a tropical cyclone in which winds reach speeds of seventy-four miles per hour or more and blow in a large spiral around a relatively calm center. It produces measurable damage and destruction from heavy rainfalls, winds, and flooding.

Secondary Effects:

Injury and loss of life; structural damage to homes and buildings may require the provision of shelter facilities; flooding and high winds may require evacuation of high risk areas i.e., campgrounds, trailer parks, flood plains; heavy winds may damage trees causing interruptions in electric and telephone service; flooding and debris may impede traffic; bridges, culverts and roads may wash out; agricultural crops may be destroyed, mobile homes may be blown off their bases; and tide surges may flood coastal areas and heavily damage property. Hurricanes can be accompanied by tornados. Some established and many marginal businesses will never recover resulting in job losses and some state wide economic consequences.

Vulnerability:

The entire State is vulnerable to the primary or secondary effects of a hurricane with coastal and southern areas of the State most frequently receiving the highest impact. The coastal area along Cumberland and York Counties is the most susceptible to erosion from storms as there is more beach area and less high rocky coastline in this region. Most coastal islands have high rocky coasts that resist erosion however occupants not evacuated early would be stranded until after the storm passed. This could be significant if a medical emergency were to occur.

The experience of Hurricane Gloria in September 1985 and Hurricane Bob in 1991 has raised awareness of the State's vulnerability; however, event memories and lessons learned often fade within a period of only two to three years.

In 1954 Maine suffered a total of eleven deaths and damages of $17 million as a result of Hurricanes Carol and Edna which occurred within a two week period. Hurricane Donna in 1960 also caused damage in Maine. Since then coastal populations have significantly increased and valuations of many coastal communities have increased more than a hundred fold. People insist on building in harms way. Consequentially, it is expected that damage today from the likes of an Edna would be many times greater.

Fishing, commercial and pleasure boating losses would probably be significant due to loss of boats and gear. The lack of any strong hurricanes for the last four decades will affect the common knowledge of how to prepare, and the willingness to make extensive preparations.

The National Weather Service (NWS) estimates the following return periods for the eye of a hurricane passing within seventy-five miles of the Maine Coast:

Category	Southwestern Maine	Mid and Downeast Maine
1	30 years	30 years
2	150 years	100 years
3	400 years	200 years

The NWS agrees that it is hard to accurately predict return times especially for the more severe Category 3 hurricanes. The NWS, Gray office, estimates that a Category 1 hurricane impacts Maine about every 20 years and severe tropical storms about every 5 years.

Mitigation:

Increased regulations governing development and building in coastal areas would lessen the potential damages resulting from hurricanes. Maine does not have a statewide building code that requires minimum building standards or addresses wind loads. Building standards are a result of local rule and are dependent on town building codes that are often influenced by local politics. Small towns often have fewer resources, and for them a plumbing and electrical code is all that they can manage. Adequate enforcement of building related codes is a problem for many small towns.

The current level of weather forecasting and warning gives sufficient time for preparations for hurricanes. Residents are urged through various media outlets of the actions to take to ensure their safety and well-being during and following storms. Residents and visitors in vulnerable areas, or housing may be advised to evacuate to public shelters.

It is expected that many tourists and residents will wait far too long to seek emergency items and materials causing long lines at grocery stores, ATMs, lumber yards, and hardware stores. Very heavy traffic on roads will test the patience of all. Coastal road systems that are already stressed by normal summer and fall tourist traffic will be the most affected as the carrying capacity of these road systems have not kept pace with increasing seasonal demands. Maine does not have a road improvement plan that addresses carrying capacities of road systems impacted by tourist populations.

Local public works and highway crews provide debris clearance from streets and highways as soon as possible enabling emergency services, as well as routine traffic, to use transportation routes. In heavily flooded areas large amounts of water damaged household debris may need to be disposed of i.e., items stored in basements and garages which may include hazardous materials, wet insulation and sheet rock, spoiled food, etc.

Power failures frequently occur and utilities activate their resources to the fullest possible extent to restore services to essential facilities and services, then large metropolitan area and individual residences, as soon as possible. Those in out lying areas may be without electricity or phone service for a two week period. Aggressive tree trimming programs around power lines help lessen the number of outages, but these efforts are often met with resistance from landowners.

County and local plans must address the evacuation and sheltering of persons from high risk areas. Reasonable steps must be taken to protect the public from such effects as contamination of water supplies, floating propane tanks, raw sewage, and other hazardous conditions.

The Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining primary highways and bridges and removing debris, as required. The State Police would assist with traffic control, evacuation, and emergency response activities.

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MAINE PREPARES

Hurricane

Description:

Secondary Effects:

Vulnerability:

Mitigation:

MAINE HAZARDS