The Rain in Maine a Harbinger of Future Disasters?

Numerous regions of the U.S. experienced severe-weather events last year, from scorching heat and raging wildfires to record flooding and tornado clusters.

In the wake of rebuilding efforts scattered across the country, evidence is mounting that suggests that certain weather patterns may become more persistent—and also destructive—in the future due to the effects of global warming.

Environment Maine is among the agencies that have recently produced documentation that will likely give legislators, insurers and citizens some pause. The statewide, citizen-based environmental-advocacy organization has issued a report stating that every county in Maine has been hit by at least one federally declared weather-related disaster since 2006.

In the report, titled “In the Path of the Storm: Global Warming, Extreme Weather and the Impacts of Weather-Related Disasters in the United States,” Environment Maine references county-level disaster-declaration data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2006 through 2011 and draws upon various scientific papers postulating the ongoing impact of global warming. 

The agency explores the fluctuations in heavy rain and snow; heat, drought and wildfires; and hurricanes and coastal storms—and also discusses how damage from non-extreme weather events could actually increase because of rising sea levels and a host of other factors.

Key findings from the Environment Maine report include:

• Since 2006, federally declared weather-related disasters affected all 16 Maine counties. Recent weather-related disasters in the Pine Tree State include blizzards in December 2010; torrential rains in February 2010 that created record tidal surges, knocked out power to 133,000 homes and caused $5 million in damage; and Hurricane Irene, which damaged nearly 200 roads and a dozen bridges.
• In 2011 alone, federally declared weather-related disasters affected four Maine counties housing 320,000 people. Nationally, the number of disasters inflicting more than $1 billion in damage (at least 14) set a record last year, with damages totaling nearly $55 billion. 
• Nationally, federally declared weather-related disasters have affected counties housing 242 million people since 2006—or nearly 4 out of 5 Americans. 

Moreover, research upon which the agency based the report suggests that hurricanes “are expected to become even more intense and bring greater amounts of rainfall in a warming world, even though the number of hurricanes may remain the same or decrease.”