Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher went up in a helicopter Thursday to do an aerial assessment of storm damage to Maine's coastal communities from Wednesday's storm.
Flying east and west of Penobscot Bay, Keliher said the scope of the damage is extensive, and he's heard the same thing from businesses and fishermen up and down the coast.
"They've never seen it this bad and they know another one's right behind it," Keliher said.
He said reports from the ground describe piers with broken pilings and wharves with damaged cribwork. Wednesday's storm surge was not anticipated, Keliher said, but warnings are going out ahead of Saturday's storm.
"We will to get out the word that more needs to be done to prepare. Securing boats, moorings and removing equipment from the top of piers so if there damage they're not going to lose damage on top of it," he said.
Keliher said he expects the damage to be in the millions, not only from damaged waterfront infrastructure but also from lost revenue for fishermen.
"We at the department are going to look at lost access because that could be another type of fisheries disaster. So after this next storm we're going to look closely at how fishermen will lose access and what that means in terms of revenues and if that's another fisheries disaster we need to pursue," Keliher said.
Keliher said it's important that fishermen and businesses report losses to the state so officials can determine whether federal aid could be approved.
Gov. Janet Mills has declared a state of civil emergency for all coastal counties in Maine that were impacted by Wednesday's storm. The Emergency Operations Center for the state will be open on Saturday.
