Governor Janet T. Mills (D) Speaking at aPress Conference in Lewiston Last Year..

Governor Janet T. Mills (D) today formally requested that President Joe Biden issue a Major Disaster Declaration to help Maine counties recover from the severe December storm that brought significant flooding, power outages and damage to central and western Maine.

In a letter sent today to President Biden, Governor Mills said that the cost of damage resulting from the weather event – estimated to have caused $20 million.in public infrastructure damage – is beyond the ability of the State of Maine to address.  If the President approves  the Governor’s request, Maine would gain access to federal funds it could use to repair damaged roads, bridges, public buildings, utilities and other public infrastructure in Androscogin, Franklin, Hancock, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo and Washington counties.

In addition to requiring public assistance, the Governor asked that President Biden  authorize individual assistance to eligible families impacted by property damage in Androscogin, Franklin, Kennebec, Oxford and Somerset counties.  A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assessment conducted earlier this month at the request of Governor Mills found that the high level of damage across these five counties met the federal government’s threshold for individual assessment.  FEMA’s assessment identified 13 destroyed, 106 major, 65 minor and 31 affected properties across the five counties.

Just 6% of owner-occupied properties across the five counties were estimated to have been covered by flood insurance at the time of the storm.

The Governor’s request does not cover last week’s significant storm which brought historic flooding to the Maine coast.  MEMA continues working with local partners to estimate the cost of damage caused by the storms.