PORTLAND, Maine — A new report says every Maine county has been hit by at least one federally declared weather-related disaster since 2006.
Environment Maine’s report says those disasters include such events as scorching heat, devastating wildfires, severe storms and record flooding. Environment Maine also says global warming could lead to some extreme weather events becoming even more common or more severe in the future.
The report examines weather-related disaster declaration data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2006 through 2011.
Recent weather-related disasters in Maine included blizzards in December 2010 and torrential rains in February 2010 that created record tidal surges and knocked out power to 133,000 homes.
Mostly confined to the Blaine House.
I know it….Baldacci and King were atrocious!!
The fools with their 61% stickers are going to need counseling after the next election. I wonder if they will scrape them off and put a 19% one on for their favorite candidate Rosa Scracelli?
I was referring to them (also McKernan, Brennan, and the current buffoon).
Well it must be so. FEMA saw fit to put up huge blue evacuations signs to lead people away from the coast. I guess that means we’re prone to tsunamis. O_o
Come on, even the DOT couldn’t resist some of them Obama Stimulus Bucks. Borrowed from China and our children makes it even more ridiculous.
Honestly, the stimulus money was great. BUT its implementation in some cases was a disaster. And I swear the DOT was the biggest offender. Did you know that it applied for, and was given a grant to add new trolleys in Kennebunkport? Now seriously, how on earth did that help the local economy jobs wise.
Oh, and keep in mind I’m a Democrat, a strong supporter of Pres. Obama, but even *I* have to shake my head in shame at the idiocy sometimes.
I had to laugh when Sargents Construction paved part of the Cadillac Mountain Acess Road in Acadia National Park. The road itself is not used at least five months of the year and was in great shape to begin with. No commercial traffic allowed on it either.
There was a sign-Your recovery dollars at work!- near the work site. I wonder what the Sargent Construction workers have been doing since they got federal money to pave a road that didnt need paving?
Seriously, Maine is one of the least prone to natural disasters.
We don’t have huge F1 or F2 tornados. Real blizzards? Nope, normal snowstorms. Major earthquakes? Nope, the potholes around here cause a bigger problem. Gigantic avalanches? Nope. Devastating hurricanes? No way, Mass deflects them away and it’s too cold for more than a tropical storm remnant. Tsunamis? Oh yeah, see above. At least FEMA thinks so. Even our thunderstorms are wimpy compared to the boomers in the midwest and great plains.Our biggest disaster is our infrastructure. And our electrical grid. Get those built and maintained properly, and our FEMA “declarations of disaster” will go way down.
No kidding. Having spent a few years in tornado alley, I have to say that I would take feet of snow and a little bit of ice storm over tornadoes any day of the week. We don’t have the hurricanes that hit from the mid-atlantic southward either. Fema is all about their own job self preservation anyway. typical government beurocracy.
Maybe it’s just me but I can’t seem to wrap my head around this article. What is its point? It seems to me that the bar (for disasters) has been lowered significantly in the last 10-15 years. I am 59 years old and have seen blizzards, flooding, scorching heat, hurricanes and ice storms all my life, and some of them have been far worse than anything that has happened since 2006. Is this just sensationalism or the continued dumbing down of America? Oh and I thought storm surges were caused by wind, not rain.
I totally agree— the “state of emergency” or “disaster area” declaration has become less and less meaningful. Disasters and emergencies aren’t happening more frequently, we are just getting better at quickly identifying damage estimates, and they reach the threshold for government aid to kick in.
The scale of the actual events has not changed all that much, but the population has more than tripled since we were kids, and development is much more omnipresent and expensive. Disaster declarations have nothing to do with how hard the wind blows or how much the earth shakes, or how many people are maimed or killed. It’s how much money it costs to fix it. And strangely enough, the money is channeled so the vast majority of it goes to business and corporations, and not the people whose fields were flooded or whose houses were washed away. Funny how that works.
cf. Fukushima
total sensationalism. OH MY GOD IT IS GOING TO SNOW 5 INCHES THIS WEEKEND !!!!
Yes
When Godzilla rises from the deeps of the Atlantic Ocean near Mack Point and all the folks in Searsport need to evacuate . . . we’ll see who’s thinking the Evacuation Route signs along Rt. 1 were a waste of time and money then. (Rolling my eyes).
Hahaha! I am so writing this down so I can remember to use it when someone asks about those big blue signs! Thanks for the chuckle.
We have an evacuation route sing near the Goose Cove Road in Trenton. (on the oak point road side) I can understand people need to get off MDI in a fast way in case of emergency. However there is no evacuation route sign on Route 3 anywhere in Trenton that I am aware of. There is also no evacuation sign at the head of Route 23o which you have to be on to reach the Goose Cove Road. So in my mind that evacuation sign is pretty useless.
I suggest the folks in Augusta check with “Chicken Little”. Then maybe Augusta will have a more comfortable felling.
WEATHER ADVISORY ………… its going to be partly cloudy. Dont go outside if you dont have to.
Environment Maine is simply a euphemism for “Send Money”.
Maine is probably one of the most moderate states in which to live. It certainly is the one with the most diverse in weather conditions. If one doesn’t like the weather just wait 15 minutes it will usually change. What is listed as a disaster today pales in comparison to weather conditions of the mid 20th century. (yes I was there). The ice storm of ’98 was more freezing fog following a bit of wind in my area than anything else. Hurricane Camile in the 50’s brought some unpleasant weather for a day or so. But for the most part we do not have the life threatening earthquakes or wildfires that cover 30 miles in a hour as can happen in other parts of the country. No great floods that destroy thousands of square miles and kill hundreds or thousands of people. It’s more the whiners that decry any problem in order to get federal money for whatever purpose. I call it a pretty good place to live and bring up a family.
This is a misleading report. These kinds of reports lead to insurance companies coming up with reasons to RAISE rates arbitrarily! Maine and it’s geographical location lend themselves to more FORMS of disaster due to SNOW. However, having lived in the gulf region, we may not get SNOW storms, but there’s significantly more damage in terms of dollars and lasting infrastructure damage when it comes to Hurricanes that hit that region. I would never downplay a natural disaster of any kind, but you’re simply comparing apples to oranges.
Now let’s all sit back and watch how quickly insurance rates will go up due to this kind of reckless study.
You bring up a very valid point, insurance companies take what ever opportunity to raise rates even unwarranted.
Good example …….. after 9/11, why did rates here in Maine more then double, within a year, for many businesses.
I know it first hand, I took two trucks off my insurance for the winter and when I got my next statement (Dec.) it was $300 more. When I called my agent to know why, I was told they had just increased by 28% and to expect my renewal (March) to go up between 75% – 100%.
Environmental cow-pie
Environmentalists make sure individuals, small business and large corporations are so closely monitored; get hit with hefty fines and a have to pay to clean up what they pollute….
Its time we start monitoring these individuals and groups,,,, and if they mess up and incorrectly harass individuals, or businesses, they themselves should be held financially culpable for damages..!
Just had an unnatural disaster this afternoon on the ballot.
Curiously enough, the Red Sox collapse in September 2011 is not mentioned.