MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024
With their sandy beaches, sizable seasonal communities and thriving tourism appeal, sea level rise has the potential to sucker punch some of Maine’s most iconic coastal communities, including Bar Harbor, Old Orchard Beach and Kennebunk. It will take Kennebunk months, if not years, to recover from the Jan. 10 and 13 storms that washed away beachfront streets and seawalls, damaged seasonal homes and historic hotels, and gouged the beaches that regularly land the town atop travelers’ lists of best beach towns. Beach erosion can lead to the loss of tourism dollars along Maine’s southern coast.