By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
“The first event was the three tornadoes that started near Madawaska Lake and bounced to Caribou,” stated Roy Woods,” and on Thursday it was water. I was to tell you ( addressing the Caribou City Council members on Monday night) “we are very fortunate to have the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in Caribou — it has proved to be invaluable.”
On Wednesday, June 8, the EOC was activated at 7:20 p.m. due to severe thunderstorms with strong winds and extremely hard rain,” stated Caribou City Manager Steven Buck, who is also the city’s public information officer. “The initial wave of storms toppled trees and power lines across multiple roads,” he added, also stating, that public safety crews consisting of the Caribou Fire and Ambulance, police and public works departments and the Caribou Emergency Response Team(CERT) all responded.
By 8:15 p.m. multiple road closings had been identified and at 8:25 p.m. the EOC released a verbal press report to local radio and TV stations. The media, the county Emergency Operations team and the state police barracks in Houlton were all informed that the EOC had been activated. At this time the media was given a list of closed roads.
“The Caribou High School was holding Class Night when these storms hit,” said Buck, “the County Emergency Management team, on behalf of the city reported to the school and CERT provided emergency power to the facility and students were confined to the building, not allowed to leave. Students were released from the school at approximately 9:10 p.m.”
According to Buck, at 8:35 p.m. communications were established with Maine Public Service to coordinate locations of downed power lines as reported by the public safety crews. MPS dispatch confirmed priority of life safety was being addressed first, followed by major transmission lines from the Fish River substation, Ashland and multiple lines serving the greater Caribou area. At least 6,000 customers were known to be without power at that time.
At 9:15 p.m. road status reports indicated that a number of roads had been cleared and deemed safe for travel and shortly thereafter the EOC requesting a storm status report from the National Weather Bureau in Caribou, were informed that the severe storm activity was reported to be past Caribou with minor thunderstorms remaining to the north and west of the city.
Caribou Fire Chief Roy Woods started to dismiss CERT members and began the deactivation and tear down of the EOC operations at 10:10 p.m.
At 4:35 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, the Caribou Emergency Operations Center was activated again, due to extreme thunder storms that caused severe street flooding. As the response to the varying watersheds became apparent, major roads were closed as the waters rose to points overflowing the streets.
According to Buck, by 4:45 p.m. there were more than 12 major roads closed. Road impacted at some point in time included: Fort Fairfield Road (Route 161); East Presque Isle Road (Route 205); Caribou Lake Road; Belyea Road; the West Presque Isle Road, Limestone Street, South Sawyer Road, Grimes and Grimes Mills road, York Street, Dow Siding, Hardison and Roosevelt roads, and Washburn Street.
Responding to the activation of the Emergency Operations Center were the Caribou Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, Caribou Public Works, Caribou Police Department, Caribou Fire and Ambulance, Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency and city Administration. All City public safety resources were coordinated from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located on High Street.
By 5:30 p.m. the media was notified of the activation of the EOC with an initial status report and local news sources both radio and TV quickly disseminated the initial release, keeping area residents informed.
“The coordination of resources was noted as exceptional,” stated Buck. “ There were no casualties reported although there will be an extensive amount of property damage both personal and public once assessments are complete. Aroostook County Emergency Management will be working on an assessments County-wide pertaining to the storm activities. he added.
Buck said the EOC response subsided by 8:15 p.m. and it was noted at that time that water was receding at the former Cyr Brothers’ property on the Washburn Road and traffic was being allowed to pass with caution. MDOT would address the Buck Road intersection at the Old Washburn Road and the Caribou Public Works had reflective cones onsite.
Public works employees reported the Caribou Lake Road toward Washburn, was cleared and the River Road was open. Erosion on river side of the road adjacent to the Doak residence was noted.
The Caribou Emergency Operations Center was deactivated at 9 p.m. Secondary assessments were to begin on Friday, with damage and assessment reports being completed.
Buck stated that, “The response by our city’s departments was outstanding. Chief Woods, Chief Gahagan, and Director Ouellette coordinated crews with exceptional efficiency and managerial expertise. The Caribou Emergency Response Team (CERT) was activated, the members of CERT are all volunteers and it was apparent that the training has and will continue to pay dividends.”
“The professionalism and seamless operations administered by the CERT Team was also outstanding,” the city manager added, “if ever one should question the maintenance of our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) within the Lions Community Building, they should have witnessed the orchestration of the Emergency Management Plan, the coordination of our resources, and the communications that took place addressing the event. It made me proud to be associated with such expertise and preparedness.”
