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Cumberland County emergency management outlines increased exercises, mitigation push and recovery aid
Summary
EMA Director Michael Durkin told commissioners the office has restructured staff around preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery, has opened the county EOC five times this year, helped towns win mitigation funds and is managing two active presidential disaster recoveries.
Michael Durkin, director of Cumberland County Emergency Management, told the Board of Commissioners the office has reorganized staff around four mission areas—preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery—and is stepping up exercises and grant work to build county resilience.
Durkin said the county has "opened our EOC 5 times thus far this year," citing activations for winter storms, a Gray water-main break and a commercial ammonia leak in Scarborough. He described a heavier-than-normal exercise schedule this year, including support for a Portland Jetport full-scale exercise and a National Guard operation that spanned multiple sites.
The county has also broadened participation in its THIRA (Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment) process. "The last THIRA was done in 2019," Durkin said; the 2024 draft involved more than 20 towns and a wider mix of emergency managers, police and public-works personnel, which Durkin said should produce a more representative ranking of county hazards. He said winter storms, flash flooding and coastal flooding ranked among the top local threats.
On mitigation funding, Durkin said county staff helped towns translate FEMA/BRIC language and shepherd applications. He said that effort produced four applications across three towns, with one town receiving two awards, "resulting in about $229,000 of committed funds" to fix recurring problems such as undersized culverts and resilient infrastructure.
Durkin also briefed the board on recovery from recent presidential disaster declarations. He reported Individual Assistance and Public Assistance summaries for the county and noted towns and the county are still finalizing PA totals. Commissioners pressed staff on the figures and asked for follow-up documentation.
Why it matters: the county's renewed emphasis on exercises and proactive grant support aims to position towns to win mitigation dollars and reduce future response burdens. Durkin urged continued town engagement and noted his team is focusing on practical purchases and deployable assets guided by the THIRA results.
Durkin said EMA is also working to address emerging operational challenges—such as hazmat responses for electric-vehicle battery fires—by building them into exercises to get local partners around the table. On staffing, he said some new hires were recruited from out of state but that the office is expanding its recruitment pool to fill technical roles.
The board thanked Durkin and asked staff to provide additional documentation on the FEMA assistance numbers and the planned use of the mitigation awards. The commissioners did not take any formal action at the end of the presentation; Durkin remained available to answer follow-up questions.
