Resources are being pre-staged in Maine ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Lee as state agencies warn of anticipated damage.
At a press conference on Friday, Governor Janet Mills said an emergency declaration by President Joe Biden puts the state in a position to better prepare for the storm’s impacts.
“We don’t have to wait until after a storm occurs to then ask for help,” Mills said. “We did this preemptively for good reason, so we’ll be prepared ahead of time before damage occurs.”
While Lee has weakened in recent days, the Maine Emergency Management Agency says it is still anticipating widespread damage, especially from strong winds.
“That wind field is over 300 miles long,” MEMA Director Peter Rogers said. “So the state will get damage. We will lose power.”
Rogers said Friday that MEMA has been in contact with the state’s largest electric utilities, which are mostly worried about tree damage after the wet summer we’ve had.
That means every section of the state could be vulnerable to outages.
“The other piece is the trees are full canopies right now, the leaves [are] on the trees, and the roots are soft,” Rogers said. “Pretty much the whole state is in that same situation. The winds will be stronger on the coast but, as you probably saw, they are going to start moving inland too, and that’s why we looked at the whole state declaration.”
MEMA anticipates having its Emergency Operations Center fully activated by Friday night and continuing to operate through the weekend.
The state offered these tips on how to stay safe and prepare for damage with this storm:
- Bring in all outdoor furniture, decorations, garbage cans, birdfeeders and anything else that could become airborne.
- Ensure generators are properly installed, fueled, and in good working order while located at least 15 feet from your home and not in an enclosed area.
- Do not drive through flooded roadways, and do not drive around barricades.
- Identify local evacuation routes and alternative shelter locations in case you need to evacuate.
