Maine has more second homes than any other state in the country, and a large chunk of them are in the coastal towns damaged by last week’s historic flooding.
This has major implications, since second homes are ineligible for a major relief program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that only supports the repair or replacement of owner-occupied homes that serve as primary residences.
People do not regularly live in more than one-fifth of the homes across Maine, according to 2020 Census data. These part-time residences are clustered around coastal areas and inland lakes, ski resorts and sporting destinations and include luxury homes, camps, rentals and any other home typically inhabited by someone with another primary residence.
For example, the coastal towns of Wells, Bristol and Harpswell, all of which were hit hard by flooding, have high rates of second homes. Nearly 1 in 2 homes in each town are vacant much of the time, meaning many homes damaged will be ineligible for the major relief program.
The coastal Maine towns with the highest shares of vacant homes are islands. In the small Hancock County town of Frenchboro, a whopping 88 percent of 72 homes there are vacant most of the time. Only 29 people live there year-round.
Other coastal towns with high vacancy rates are Isle au Haut, a Knox County island with 70 percent of its housing vacant, Southport in Lincoln County at a 68 percent vacancy rate and Islesboro, off Lincolnville in Waldo County, with 67 percent housing vacancy.
There are several ways that Mainers and businesses will seek relief in the coming months, including through federal programs and private insurance. The state encouraging anyone with property and infrastructure damage to report it by calling 211 or to complete surveys found on an online flood assistance hub launched by Gov. Janet Mills last week.
The surveys will help the state determine if it meets a threshold for Mills to request a federal disaster declaration, similar to one Maine will seek for the Dec. 18 wind and rain storm. On Tuesday, the governor also said her administration was considering whether to apply for fisheries disaster aid as well.
Coastal areas hit by major floods do not see as much assistance as urban areas because of the high prevalence of second homes in those areas, Daniel Aldrich, a political science professor at Northeastern University who studies post-disaster recovery, told the Bangor Daily News this week.
While Aldrich said this isn’t “great news” for those with second homes, some assistance may be possible with low-interest loans available through a program run by the Small Business Association, Aldrich said. After Hurricane Ian hit Florida in 2022, an agency spokesperson told a local news outlet that Florida homeowners who lease second residences as could apply.
A second home operated as a “rent-free” residence for a family member could also qualify for an SBA loan, and thousands applied for the loans in the days following Hurricane Ian, the spokesperson said.
