ACROSS THE COUNTRY

After two devastating storms hit Stonington in January, plans are multiplying to raise and fortify wharves, roads and buildings. But will that be enough?

WHY WE’RE HERE

We’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. In Maine, climate change and economic forces are threatening one town’s identity, and way of life.

Sept. 7, 2024

There were some who thought it was excessive when Travis Fifield, rebuilding his commercial lobster wharf a few years ago, raised it nearly a foot and a half higher above the blue expanse of Maine’s Penobscot Bay.

The fourth generation to run the family business, Fifield Lobster, on a granite peninsula in remote Stonington, Mr. Fifield paid the skeptics no mind. He was determined to defend his property against the rising seas and raging storms he knew would be the consequences of a changing climate.

Then two vicious storms slammed Maine’s coast in a single week in January, with intense winds and extremely high tides wiping out swaths of working waterfront. For Stonington, home to the largest lobster fishing fleet in Maine, the damage was so extensive and shocking that it extinguished any remaining doubt about the need for urgent action.

Now, across the island town of 1,000 people, plans are multiplying to raise and fortify wharves, roads and buildings. At Isle au Haut Boat Services, managers intend to lift the dock two feet higher and add a concrete top to hold it down when waters surge. A similar upgrade is in store for the Stonington Lobster Co-op, home base for 90 of the town’s 350 lobster boats.

“That storm surge in January — we never thought it could happen here,” said Mr. Fifield, 40, who is also a member of the Stonington Select Board. “When you’re smacked in the face with it, it’s hard to deny.”