Though Hurricane Lee’s exact path is not yet known, and it’s unclear how strong it will be when it gets to Maine, officials along the coast are starting to plan for a direct strike this weekend.
The storm has weakened since it reached category 5 status late last week and is expected to continue to lose strength as it moves north over the open ocean toward the Gulf of Maine. Still, it is expected to still be strong enough to topple trees and cause flooding in inland and coastal Maine by the time the wind and rain begin here on Saturday.
The arrival of Hurricane Lee could mark one of the few times that such a storm makes direct landfall in Maine, rather than coming from another state or passing Maine out to sea. The approach conjures memories of Hurricane Bob crashing into Maine’s coastline in 1991, causing $42 million worth of damage and knocking out electricity to more than 150,000 people.
Eastport could be the center of the action. The city, located on the Canadian border in Washington County, is expected to be buffeted by sustained winds between 39 and 57 mph — some of the strongest expected from the storm when it makes landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center. And it could get stronger winds than that.
“You always look out for the worst, no matter how dumb it is when nothing happens,” George “Bud” Finch, the interim city manager, said. “If it comes fast, we’ve got to be ready.”
Eastport and other nearby towns have significant tides and could experience some flooding at around midnight Friday and around noon and midnight on Saturday, depending on the strength and timing of the storm. Eastport is accessible by land only by causeways on Route 190, and so could get cut off if the combined storm surge and high tides are high enough.
The city will shut down the road if it has to to keep motorists safe from a storm surge, Finch said, since there are places where waves can hit the road.
Mount Desert Island, like Eastport, is accessible by land only via a causeway, but it is a much busier tourist destination than Eastport. Bar Harbor’s public safety officials are planning to meet with other town staff on Thursday to discuss planning for if the power goes out or roads get blocked off by fallen trees or power lines, David Kerns, the town’s interim police chief, said.
Kerns said that because of the advance warning about the approaching storm, he does not anticipate that there would be a mass exodus of tourists and residents trying to drive off the island all at once. If there was, he would coordinate with state and county emergency management officials and others on the island to manage the traffic, he said.
Acadia National Park, which typically gets more than half a million visits each September, also is keeping an eye on the storm. Visitors often gravitate toward the park’s rugged shore when storms kick up the surf in the Gulf of Maine to see big waves crash against the rocks.
“We’re expecting big waves, we’re expecting high winds, and we’re expecting rip tides,” said Amanda Pollock, the park’s spokesperson.
Big surf along Acadia’s shore has proven to be dangerous in the past, when some unsuspecting visitors have been caught by waves and swept into the ocean. Last September, a Massachusetts woman was rescued after a large wave kicked up by Hurricane Earl dragged her into the ocean from a rocky ledge near Thunder Hole.
In 2009, an unusually large wave generated by Hurricane Bill, which also passed far out to sea, drenched people gathered near Thunder Hole and dragged several of them into the water. Some were injured and one person, a 7-year-old girl from New York, was pulled into the ocean and drowned.
To protect visitors this weekend, the park plans to close Ocean Drive, from the Sand Beach entrance station to Stanley Brook Road at Seal Harbor, and the one-way section of Schoodic Loop Road to motor vehicles at 5 p.m. on Friday. All the park’s campgrounds will close at 10 a.m. Friday. These parts of Acadia will stay closed until park staff deems that it is safe again for visitors to use these areas, Pollock said.
Updates to conditions and access to the park will be posted on the park website or through its social media channels, she said.
“Visitor safety is the National Park Service’s top priority,” park officials said Wednesday. “Visitors should stay back from the ocean’s edge to avoid rogue waves that can wash people out to sea even in the aftermath of the storm.”
Both Bar Harbor and Eastport also have had some cruise ships cancel their planned visits this weekend. Eastport, which is more protected from the ocean with a large pier, got a request from one cruise ship that wants to shelter there, Finch said. The city has another pier at the shipping terminal at Estes Head in case a second ship wants to stay there, he said.
In Rockland, department heads were meeting Wednesday afternoon with the city manager to discuss logistics, Chris Whytock, emergency management director for Rockland, said. The harbormaster has made plans to get some of the boats out of the harbor and may remove some dock floats to shield them from damage.
“We’re waiting and watching, but this is a storm that seems fairly manageable,” Whytock said. “I think we’ve seen worse, but at the same time we always want to be prepared.”
Rob Leavitt, Boothbay Harbor’s harbormaster, is encouraging local boat owners to make sure their boats are adequately secured for the weather or remove their boats from the water. He said a lot of boat owners are scrambling to find a sheltered place to tie up their boats or someone to help haul them out on dry land. It isn’t easy on short notice.
“Most of the vendors are full up and aren’t taking on new customers,” Leavitt said. “It’s not an ideal situation.”
Bangor Daily News reporter Jules Walkup contributed to this story.