BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 29, 2024
Many of the town’s roads and buildings, along with commercial fishing infrastructure, were badly damaged by a Jan. 10 storm that brought high winds, rain and record storm surges to part of the coast. It was followed by a Jan. 13 storm that was worse. Changes need to be made to zoning and permitting requirements to address the consequences of climate change but repairs, reconstruction and new construction may need to happen quickly. Permitting and zoning changes can’t take so long that industries and communities are hurt. Nor should rebuilding happen so quickly that no needed adaptations are made to account for the next flood, the next wind storm, because they are surely coming.