The coastline suffered major damage with high tide occurring around 9:30 a.m., Jan. 10, 2024. The ocean was washing over all infrastructure, ripping and tearing property and sending surf to the highest ever seen in recent history.

High tide occurred around 9:30 a.m., but even as the waters began to recede, the winds, out of the southeast, and rain continued. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2.4 inches of rain fell Jan. 10.

At 10 a.m., Jan 10, a buoy off of Owls Head recorded wave heights of 21.85 feet. The buoy, maintained by the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS). By 8 p.m., the wave heights had fallen to their more normal range of 4.4 feet.

Firefighters and public works crews worked nonstop to clear downed trees and wires. Camden Fire Department was busy on Bay View Street locating an LP gas leak. The street was closed for a stretch this morning, but the leak was found and the gas line shut off.

Islesboro sustained a lot of damage and the storm surge was the highest in memory, according to Capt. Dylan Purington, Harbor Master.

Power was out to many Central Maine Power Company customers in Knox, Waldo and Lincoln counties, and at the height of the storm power outages were:

Knox County: Of the 26,700 customers, 4,050 were without electricity;

Waldo County: Of the 26,159 customers, 5,282 were without electricity;

Lincoln County: Of the 28,574 customers, 5,752 were without electricity.

By evening, Jan. 10, CMP reported that it had restored power to nearly 90% of customers impacted by Wednesday’s storm.

“Based on today’s progress, the company expects the vast majority of its impacted customers to be restored today,” CMP said. “Due to extreme coastal flooding, crews will not be able to access and restore power to some customers until Thursday.”

CMP is now monitoring a second storm that is expected to arrive Saturday, Jan. 13.

If you have photos of this historic storm, please share them with the Pilot and we will add to this story.