Ogunquit News
Ogunquit races to complete repairs after Mother's Day weekend floods
By C. Ayn Douglass
At the end of a hectic week of emergency calls in response to the Mother's Day Storm, the Ogunquit Fire Department and Ogunquit Fire Company Emergency Medical Service held an Open House on May 20 giving tours of the ambulance, demonstrations of services, blood pressure checks, CPR information and distributed "File of Life" kits for home medical records to all who came to the fire station.
Pictured are personnel from both the fire department and EMS who participated in the event: Jeff Smith, Nate Howe, Fire Chief Ed Smith, Jessica Christian, Martin Kriensky, April Brewster, Marlow Adams and Howard Doane.
The best news is the Route 1 bridge area between Furbish Road and Eldredge Road in Wells is expected to reopen by Thursday, according to Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce Director Eleanor Vadenais. A circuitous detour route confusing to locals and travelers alike had been recommended by the Wells Police Department. Route 1 is the primary corridor for drivers leaving the turnpike in Wells to get to Ogunquit.
Despite ongoing storm cleanup, Vadenais said the town has been busy with tourism as Canadian visitors bravely came down to Ogunquit to celebrate a holiday weekend.
"Last week was very busy. The State office of Tourism did a media blitz (to encourage southern Maine tourism) and a lot our tourists were from Canada who were celebrating Victoria Day," she said.
Vadenais said she had not polled the chamber members who provide lodging as to how well booked they are for the Memorial Day holiday, but said prospects were good for the summer.
"During April, advance reservations were up for the year and we're expecting a gorgeous weekend," she said.
Fire Chief Ed Smith confirmed that his department had pumped out 77 basements during the storm - with a high of 80,000 gallons from the Gorges Grant Resort to a low of a foot or two in residential basements.
"Volunteers came out and responded, as well as our regular paid crew," he said. "We're all breathing a collective sigh of relief, although there's still a lot of paperwork to do."
Smith estimated his staff contributed a total of 400 extra man-hours during the three-day siege.
"We had one hell of a payroll last week," said Firefighter Chris Brassard.
Smith estimated the cost in Ogunquit associated with the storm, which is expected to be offset by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will be between $1.4 and $2 million.
"Emergencies have a cost associated with them," he said. "Most of the damage is in the roads. There are costs associated with every response."
Boat owner Peter Clayton, who had not put his own sailboat in at Perkins Cove when the storm hit, said the rush of water from the Josias River at the back of the cove caused problems for many of the moored boats.
"There was a huge mess down there. Six of the floating docks were affected by the current coming out of the Josias," he said. "It was so intense, the mooring blocks got disconnected from the docks and all the boats wrapped around in a circle."
Clayton said divers were at the cove replacing the blocks.
Paula Mammone a Wells resident, who, with a cadre of volunteers, monitors the nesting sites of the piping plover, said the birds and their nests largely survived the storm.
"Ogunquit has one full clutch (four eggs in the nest) under an old dune behind the new fence," she said. "They are expected to hatch in June."
Mammone said only one nest between Drake's Island and Ogunquit suffered damage and one in Wells that was destroyed is being re-established.
Have a story to share? Ogunquit reporter C. Ayn Douglass can be reached via e-mail at cayndouglass@yorkindependent.net.
