Monday afternoon, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will appear in Maine with U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine's 1st District to meet with stakeholders and discuss the impact of the storm on the state’s farming community.
Organic dairy farmer Doug Hartkopf of Albion says he lost several barns to wind gusts of at least 70 mph, and had to move nearly 60 milking cows to neighboring farms.
"And we heard this wind and literally the barn just exploded. I ducked behind a wagon and a tractor. All I could see was metal roofing and wood. You know those tornadoes where you see the building explode. It's kind of what happened here," he says.
Hartkopf says the storm caused at least $250,000 in damage to his farm. He says many of his neighbors also suffered significant losses.
"There's a lot of guys around here that lost their roofs, there's a barn in Unity got destroyed with equipment inside. We're not alone — there's a lot of damage sustained. We're lucky that nobody was hurt and no animals were hurt," he says.
