Residents are invited to a session next month where researchers plan to present a hazard risk assessment of coastal and inland flooding in Washington County and nearby areas.
The live online event, hosted by the Sunrise County Economic Council, is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, March 13.
The assessment, published in October 2025 by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service and the U.S. Department of Commerce, examined flood risks and other environmental hazards, including soil erosion and threats to wildlife, across all of Washington County and parts of Aroostook and Penobscot counties, with a special focus on coastal communities.
Researchers considered a wide range of hazards, including storm surges and flooding, ice storm damage and wildfires, and the resulting damage to roads and other infrastructure. They also evaluated risks that can isolate remote communities when floods and other hazards close roads.
During the study, researchers reviewed national and local climate, soil and population data and held a series of in‑person meetings and workshops with stakeholders for about a year.
One of the factors researchers considered when rating hazard risks was the population density in areas vulnerable to flooding or other storm damage.
Working with local officials, researchers identified critical infrastructure that municipalities should consider when planning for future hazards, with ambulance services, county emergency management agencies, fire stations and hospitals high on the list.
Lower on the list, they identified a need to protect assisted living facilities and nursing homes, child care providers, schools, libraries and correctional facilities, with grocery stores and other retail locations at the bottom.
Researchers also identified a need to locate and protect hazardous materials sites and other sensitive locations, starting with dams and power lines and including cemeteries, recovery and treatment providers, psychiatry and psychopharmacology providers, farmers markets and cultural and historic sites.
According to the report, “following destructive January 2024 storms that brought record flooding and high winds to coastal Maine, partners prioritized Category 2 hurricane storm surge modeling to plan for extreme conditions” in the future.
To determine stormwater flood hazards, researchers considered historic rainfall intensity, the types of soils found in coastal communities, land use in relation to previously recorded hazards and the proximity of people and buildings to existing drainage networks.
Considering these factors, the report concludes that densely populated areas and wetlands are at the greatest risk of damage from flooding and other storms, followed by pastures and farmlands, and then medium‑ to low‑density land uses.
According to the report, assessing potential ice storm damage is typically based on monthly 30‑year temperature lows, but in this study area the temperature norms for December, January and February are always at or below freezing.
As a result, researchers were not able to model potential ice storm damage as clearly as they could for other hazards, although the report notes that deciduous trees would likely suffer the most, as Maine has seen in past events.
Information from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, or NCCOS, shows that many of the nation’s coastal communities “have limited economic resources and are disproportionately exposed to natural hazards,” with fewer resources and opportunities to prepare for hazardous events.
When those areas are identified, risk assessments like the one conducted in Maine are provided through NCCOS, NOAA and local stakeholders, according to the report.
Similar risk assessments include recent studies of flood and heat hazards in Baltimore and of population vulnerabilities and flood risk in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to NCCOS, risk assessments are locally tailored and are intended to help public officials and others better protect people, structures and land from future hazards.
The risk assessment in Maine is the seventh such study conducted in the region and was compiled with input from community partners, including the Sunrise County Economic Council, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Maine Sea Grant at the University of Maine, the Greater East Grand Economic Council, NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Washington County Emergency Management Agency, the Downeast Salmon Federation, the Downeast Region Land Use Planning Commission and the Sipayik Resilience Committee.
There is no cost to attend the March 13 event, and preregistration is not required. To join, click here. The event is live and will not be recorded.
