A storm no one will forget
A storm no one will forget
1996 event is the worst in recent memory
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
Many who have lived in Scarborough for decades consider the storm that hit on October 20, 1996 as the worst they have ever seen and probably will ever see.
Within a matter of hours on Oct. 20 and 21 of that year, Scarborough received more than 15 inches of rain. The storm caused a great amount of damage and left a trail of destruction in its wake.
The storm of the century
On the evening of Sunday, October 20, 1996, the rain came. Rain had been predicted, but the severity of the storm’s potential had not.
“It was really a surprise,” said Fire Chief Mike Thurlow, who was the part-time EMA director for the town and a member of Engine 4 at the time of the storm. “It was really a localized event…it just dumped on us.”
The slow movement of the storm system, coupled with moisture from a recent hurricane that was sitting off the coast of Maine, made for what many call “a 500-year event.” The damage was worst in the area in Scarborough and surrounding communities.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a "500 year event" does not mean that the storm is an event that will happen once every 500 years. Instead, it involves the probability of something happening in any given year. A "500 year" event has a one in five hundred chance of happening in any year.
An emergency response began soon after the storm began and its power became apparent.
A number of roads became washed out and damaged in town. The Maine Turnpike was closed because of flooding. Because of some roadways not being passable, the local fire and police departments contacted the National Guard to assist.
The American Red Cross opened an emergency shelter at the high school.
Dave Corbeau, Scarborough’s marine resource officer, had been the town’s harbormaster for a little over a year when the storm hit. He called the storm “the worst time in my 11 years of being here.” He remembered working for 30 hours straight, helping people evacuate their homes, blocking roads, constructing barricades and helping with fire department calls during the event. He said because of the damage, it caused many parts of town to be nearly impossible to get to.
“The damage made it so that the town was divided into three or four sections,” Corbeau said. “The police department and fire department manned fire stations in each part.”
Corbeau said fishing for lobsters and clam digging in town took a significant hit as a result of the damage caused by the storm.
In all, the fire department received more than 350 calls from people requesting service during the storm.
A Portland Water District main that fed most of South Portland and Scarborough was damaged beyond repair because of the rain. For three days, there was no water pressure and after repairs were made, people were ordered to boil their water.
Scarborough Town Hall was turned into a center for agencies that were available to provide assistance to landowners and residents. Private assistance given to those in Scarborough totaled more than $635,000.
A local lobsterman loses his life
Forty-two-year old Robert Snow, who had lived in Scarborough all his life, lost his life during the storm – the only fatality caused by the event.
The largest single amount of damage from the storm happened at a bridge along Blue Point Road that crosses Foxwell Brook. The amount of rain caused the culvert underneath the road to cave in and collapse. Several yards of pavement were washed out also, leaving a gaping hole in the road.
Snow was driving to a friend’s house to help with his wife that Sunday night. His vehicle was swallowed up by the water below when the road collapsed. Snow’s wife made it back to shore, but he did not. A large group of people, ranging from military personnel to Snow’s fellow fishermen, searched for him. His body was eventually found near where his truck had gone into the water.
Thurlow remembered Snow as a friend who was known to everyone in Pine Point, where he was a lobsterman for a number of years.
“He was a nice, real down-to-earth guy,” Thurlow said. “He would help anybody that needed it.”
When the restoration project was completed in Scarborough Marsh where 5,000 cubic yards of asphalt, rock and other material were spread over two acres of marsh surface because of the Old Blue Point Road damage, the project was dedicated to Snow.
Members of Robert Snow’s family were present at the dedication ceremony. His brother, Steven, said Robert was a selfless man.
“I want to model my life in a lot of aspects after my brother Bobby, because it was everybody first and Bobby last, and that was just the way he was,” Steven said at the ceremony. “It is a good name to have chiseled in stone for all of us...he was a wonderful man.”
A plaque dedicating the project in Snow’s memory has been placed along Pine Point Road.
The aftermath
According to the Maine Emergency Management Agency, infrastructure damage that was reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a result of the storm totaled $8.7 million for the entire state, with $4.8 million of that earmarked for Cumberland County. MEMA estimates that federal highway assistance as a result of the storm totaled $1.3 million. More than 2,100 requests for assistance were processed by MEMA due to the event.
Thurlow called the storm “the most serious event we have had in recent memory” and said many factors make him say that.
“It was traumatic,” Thurlow said. “We lost a life, there was a huge volume of damage that cost well over a million dollars and a number of folks were affected.”
According to Corbeau, those involved in the emergency response effort to the storm could not have performed their duties differently.
“In hindsight, sometimes you ask yourself if things could have been done better,” Corbeau said. “I think we did everything we could have done.”
1996 event is the worst in recent memory
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
Many who have lived in Scarborough for decades consider the storm that hit on October 20, 1996 as the worst they have ever seen and probably will ever see.
Within a matter of hours on Oct. 20 and 21 of that year, Scarborough received more than 15 inches of rain. The storm caused a great amount of damage and left a trail of destruction in its wake.
The storm of the century
On the evening of Sunday, October 20, 1996, the rain came. Rain had been predicted, but the severity of the storm’s potential had not.
“It was really a surprise,” said Fire Chief Mike Thurlow, who was the part-time EMA director for the town and a member of Engine 4 at the time of the storm. “It was really a localized event…it just dumped on us.”
The slow movement of the storm system, coupled with moisture from a recent hurricane that was sitting off the coast of Maine, made for what many call “a 500-year event.” The damage was worst in the area in Scarborough and surrounding communities.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a "500 year event" does not mean that the storm is an event that will happen once every 500 years. Instead, it involves the probability of something happening in any given year. A "500 year" event has a one in five hundred chance of happening in any year.
An emergency response began soon after the storm began and its power became apparent.
A number of roads became washed out and damaged in town. The Maine Turnpike was closed because of flooding. Because of some roadways not being passable, the local fire and police departments contacted the National Guard to assist.
The American Red Cross opened an emergency shelter at the high school.
Dave Corbeau, Scarborough’s marine resource officer, had been the town’s harbormaster for a little over a year when the storm hit. He called the storm “the worst time in my 11 years of being here.” He remembered working for 30 hours straight, helping people evacuate their homes, blocking roads, constructing barricades and helping with fire department calls during the event. He said because of the damage, it caused many parts of town to be nearly impossible to get to.
“The damage made it so that the town was divided into three or four sections,” Corbeau said. “The police department and fire department manned fire stations in each part.”
Corbeau said fishing for lobsters and clam digging in town took a significant hit as a result of the damage caused by the storm.
In all, the fire department received more than 350 calls from people requesting service during the storm.
A Portland Water District main that fed most of South Portland and Scarborough was damaged beyond repair because of the rain. For three days, there was no water pressure and after repairs were made, people were ordered to boil their water.
Scarborough Town Hall was turned into a center for agencies that were available to provide assistance to landowners and residents. Private assistance given to those in Scarborough totaled more than $635,000.
A local lobsterman loses his life
Forty-two-year old Robert Snow, who had lived in Scarborough all his life, lost his life during the storm – the only fatality caused by the event.
The largest single amount of damage from the storm happened at a bridge along Blue Point Road that crosses Foxwell Brook. The amount of rain caused the culvert underneath the road to cave in and collapse. Several yards of pavement were washed out also, leaving a gaping hole in the road.
Snow was driving to a friend’s house to help with his wife that Sunday night. His vehicle was swallowed up by the water below when the road collapsed. Snow’s wife made it back to shore, but he did not. A large group of people, ranging from military personnel to Snow’s fellow fishermen, searched for him. His body was eventually found near where his truck had gone into the water.
Thurlow remembered Snow as a friend who was known to everyone in Pine Point, where he was a lobsterman for a number of years.
“He was a nice, real down-to-earth guy,” Thurlow said. “He would help anybody that needed it.”
When the restoration project was completed in Scarborough Marsh where 5,000 cubic yards of asphalt, rock and other material were spread over two acres of marsh surface because of the Old Blue Point Road damage, the project was dedicated to Snow.
Members of Robert Snow’s family were present at the dedication ceremony. His brother, Steven, said Robert was a selfless man.
“I want to model my life in a lot of aspects after my brother Bobby, because it was everybody first and Bobby last, and that was just the way he was,” Steven said at the ceremony. “It is a good name to have chiseled in stone for all of us...he was a wonderful man.”
A plaque dedicating the project in Snow’s memory has been placed along Pine Point Road.
The aftermath
According to the Maine Emergency Management Agency, infrastructure damage that was reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a result of the storm totaled $8.7 million for the entire state, with $4.8 million of that earmarked for Cumberland County. MEMA estimates that federal highway assistance as a result of the storm totaled $1.3 million. More than 2,100 requests for assistance were processed by MEMA due to the event.
Thurlow called the storm “the most serious event we have had in recent memory” and said many factors make him say that.
“It was traumatic,” Thurlow said. “We lost a life, there was a huge volume of damage that cost well over a million dollars and a number of folks were affected.”
According to Corbeau, those involved in the emergency response effort to the storm could not have performed their duties differently.
“In hindsight, sometimes you ask yourself if things could have been done better,” Corbeau said. “I think we did everything we could have done.”
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