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It has been a year since rapid flooding devastated western Maine, washing out roads and stranding drivers and homeowners. As towns continue to grapple with the aftermath, there's a growing understanding that more storms are coming, and they need to be ready.

“I was home and watched as the river breached its banks and raged down the road,” one Phillips resident told us. “The entire property became the river. The field across the road was completely covered by the river. The power went out. The water rose in the basement four feet.”

This week, our environmental reporter Emmett Gartner and western Maine correspondent Ben Hanstein look back at the disaster from two different angles — and unpack some of the climate resilience efforts on the horizon. These include a new state Office of Community Affairs, which will serve as the “connective tissue” between local communities and other agencies, so they can “spend more time doing the projects and less time finding the grants and technical assistance they need.”

Over and over again, town officials told us they know the next big storm is just down the road — there's an urgency to act now, and to do so together. You can learn more about their plans, and the challenges ahead, in the stories from Emmett and Ben below. Wishing you happy reading and happy holidays, from all of us at The Maine Monitor.

— Stephanie

A year since the region saw disastrous flooding, western Maine officials say they’re better prepared

Over the past twelve months, western Maine towns have participated in a number of county-led disaster response exercises and have created contingency plans for various worst-case scenarios, all with the expectation that more severe floods are imminent. 

But after a year of ruminating on what went wrong in 2023 and recovering from the $20 million in estimated damages, some towns have reached the limit of what they can achieve on their own. Federal disaster aid has been slow to trickle down and many towns lack the technical expertise required to bolster their infrastructure to the levels they’re striving for in the face of climate change.

Read this story by Emmett Gartner.

After last December’s floods, one western Maine town dredged the river. Now they must undo it: State officials say the town of Phillips went too far in its response to the flooding, damaging an Atlantic salmon habitat. Town leaders deny they did anything wrong. Read this story by Ben Hanstein.

Report shows growing need in residential care facilities: Researchers found 54 percent of Mainers in residential care had been diagnosed with dementia, compared to 51 percent in nursing homes. Read this story by Rose Lundy.

Maine’s recycling reports are better, but still bleak: In much of the state, almost all of the waste is being landfilled. Read this story by Kate Cough.

Maine Monitor receives support from Report for America, Inasmuch Foundation to expand its investigative reporting: An RFA-supported reporter will cover the intersection of religion, politics and culture in Maine. Read this story.

December floods expose weaknesses in county notification systems

Franklin County officials say they struggled to notify residents of road closures and other hazards in real time as floodwaters rose.

Read this February 2024 story by Emmett Gartner. 

Know of a story that we should be digging into? Send it to our newsroom. 

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