Maine must prepare for storms and climate change, lawmakers told

Yahoo

28-02-2025

Feb. 28—Last year's back-to-back winter storms whalloped Lincoln County, washing out roads in Boothbay and Bremen, collapsing wharves in Southport and Bristol, smashing the bell tower at Pemaquid Point, and leaving thousands of people in the dark for up to a week.
"While impactful, last winter's storms are not unique," said Emily Rabbe, executive director of the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission. "Lincoln County has been experiencing stronger and more frequent flooding, winter storms, and wind events for the past several years."
Since then, the commission has helped write 26 grants for more than $5 million in local and regional resiliency projects. The communities know how to become more resilient, but they need help to do it, Rabbe said Thursday at a legislative hearing on a $34.5 million storm and climate resiliency package.
Introduced by Gov. Janet Mills, the bipartisan bill would create a $15 million grant program to help Maine residents prepare their homes for storms, increase state funding for disaster relief and preparedness, and create a $10 million revolving loan fund to help communities qualify for federal disaster relief.
The legislation, LD 1, adopts recommendations in the first report of the Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission that Mills created last year following a series of winter storms that killed four people and caused an estimated $90 million in damage to Maine's public infrastructure.
The proposal would be funded by existing fees collected from insurance companies, most of whom are from out of state, and not from the general fund of the state budget, according to Bob Carey, the state's insurance superintendent. As emergency legislation, it would take effect immediately upon enactment.
The legislation would provide $15 million in one-time funding to create a home resiliency program that would provide grants of up to $15,000 to Mainers to perform targeted improvements like strengthening roofs and flood-proofing basements to minimize storm damage and insurance losses.
The Bureau of Insurance has documented an increase in homeowners' insurance non-renewal notices, Carey told lawmakers. About 75% of the non-renewals are because of substandard roofs, he said. A $15,000 grant wouldn't cover the entire cost of a new roof, he said, but it would certainly help.
Participants would likely pay lower premiums, he said, while fewer roof claims may lower costs for all.
In other states with similar programs, including Alabama, Florida, and California, even people who do not qualify for resiliency grants have begun storm-proofing their properties. In Alabama, 10,000 people have fortified their roofs with state funds — but another 40,000 people who did not participate did the same.
"The spillover effect may be as important as the direct benefit of this program," Carey told lawmakers.
While the bill was generally applauded, some supporters urged lawmakers to give grant preference to low-income Mainers who can't afford improvements or to move out of harm's way, and to certify program contractors in all parts of Maine so even rural applicants can benefit from the program.
"A means test is critical to directing funds where they are most needed and can have the greatest impact to mitigating future risk," said Rebecca Graham, a legislative advocate at Maine Municipal Association, who submitted testimony but took no position on the bill.
Carey told lawmakers he supports a proposed amendment to offer tiered grant awards based on income or financial means. This type of structure is similar to the tiered grants provided by Efficiency Maine for heat pumps and other home improvements.
Some insurance industry representatives spoke out against the way the bill would be funded. While 70% of the fees that would be used to fund the program are collected from out-of-state agents and brokers, a lot of Maine insurance agents and brokers are also licensed in other states.
What happens if Florida and Massachusetts raise the licensing fees charged to Maine agents licensed in their state to fund their own storm and climate programs, asked Daniel Bernier, a lobbyist for the Maine Insurance Agents Association.
Local officials voiced support for the bill's investment of $10 million in the state disaster recovery fund to help municipalities seek federal disaster funds, improve emergency communication systems, and beef up staffing at the Maine Emergency Management Agency.
Old Orchard Beach Fire Chief John Gilboy said the record high tides and storm surge of the 2023-24 winter storms destroyed sand dunes, cut off whole areas of town, forced air boat rescues and evacuations of residents who had never been flooded before.
"We need to work towards improving infrastructure, making all communities more resilient as the storms we see are increasing in severity," Gilboy said. We need to "increase emergency communication, increase public awareness and education and increase the capabilities of public safety."
Small towns like Jay, which was hit by three federal disasters in 2023 that caused $4 million in damages, lack the staffing and financial reserves to respond and recover. Many must take out loans. Jay is still waiting for federal reimbursement for a $1.6 million storm recovery project, officials said.
'These FEMA disasters were among the most stressful periods of my tenure, which says a lot given that we've seen a paper mill explosion and ultimately the closure of two mills in Jay," said Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere. "Knowing that the state is there in support is huge."
The legislation would launch the Flood-Ready Maine Program to modernize data on flood risk and make it publicly available online, improve communication to communities, businesses and residents about flood risk, and work to increase the number of flood insurance policies in use in Maine.
Only 1.3% of Mainers participate in the national flood insurance program. The national average of 3.3%.
All property owners should know their property risks, but access to such address-level risk data has typically only been available to large insurers and those who subscribe to high-level forecasting services, said Cape Elizabeth real estate broker Julia Bassett Schwerin. This bill would change that.
"I know the value of the Maine coastline," Bassett Schwerin said. "It's up to all of us to understand the risk from flooding and other catastrophic damage and manage it to avoid having to recover and rebuild over and over and watch our insurance premiums soar."
Last year, Maine approved $60 million to help local communities and businesses recover from severe back-to-back-to-back winter storms, which the state said was the single largest investment in storm recovery in Maine history.
While the winter storms caused destructive river flooding, coastal properties and beaches also took a beating from storm surges and waves. And coastal storms are expected to become more destructive as sea levels continue to rise and reshape the Maine coast due to climate change.
The Gulf of Maine has risen about 7.5 inches over the last century, with about half of that happening since the 1990s. The Maine Climate Council projects seas will rise another 1.1 to 3.2 feet by 2050 and 3 to 9.3 feet by 2100, depending on how much we curb global emissions rates.
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