SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Powerful waves and winds whipped through Higgins Beach in Scarborough, causing damage to both the street and homes along the water.
Folks living nearby came out to watch the massive waves and to check out some of the damage from this historic storm.
“We’re just surveying the damage now and it’s nuts. Absolutely nuts,” said Cameron Randlett.
Randlett lives a block away from the ocean. He was shocked at how crazy the storm was.
Caoimhe McGee also lives in Scarborough and has been watching safety crews use a bulldozer to clean up all the rocks, branches, and other debris that washed up from massive waves and a historic high tide.
“The closer it got it started flooding the road and then it got real fast,” McGee said.
Crews clearing the road of debris at Higgins Beach.
Powerful waves and wind broke parts of the street here.@WGME pic.twitter.com/YFhPj8K4fV
— Aysia Reed (@AysiaWGME) January 13, 2024
Some houses touching the beach couldn’t escape destruction.
“I hope the folks whose homes were destroyed; they can put them back together again and everybody is okay because rocks were flying through windows and stuff. It’s wild,” said Randlett.
“All of these houses have gotten destroyed it’s terrible,” McGee said.
Debrah White’s house had water flooding in.
“We have a fair amount of water in our basement here, but we got through it, and nobody got hurt,” White said. “Never in my life. And I’ve lived in Maine all my life. It’s incredible.”
Some folks feel lucky that they escaped damage.
“If I lived right on the waterfront, I wouldn’t be excited but because we are a little bit back it’s fun to be around,” McGee said.
The Scarborough fire chief is reminding folks to never pass through flooded roads.