Shaheen Tours Storm Damages at Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor

(New Castle, NH) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) visited Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor to meet with senior officials from the station, Coast Guard Sector Northern New England and the First Coast Guard District to discuss facility damages resulting from storms in January of this year. After receiving a briefing on the actions the Coast Guard has taken to maintain its capabilities, officials led a walking tour and discussed next steps to repair the damaged infrastructure. Photos from the event can be found here. 

“In recent years, many areas of New Hampshire have been heavily impacted by extreme weather events of increased strength and duration, including our coastal communities,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’ll continue advocating for climate resiliency measures to ensure these communities have the resources to recover from extreme weather events when they occur and to withstand extreme weather in the future. The Coast Guard plays an essential role in keeping our communities and our country safe, which is why I’m working to get the Portsmouth Harbor Station fully repaired as soon as possible.” 

In January of this year, the New Hampshire seacoast was severely impacted by a series of storms from the 14th to the 19th. During these events, Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor sustained significant damage to its seawall and boathouse. Due to the damage, the station is no longer able to dock two emergency response boats and have been forced to make alternative arrangements.  

Earlier this year, Shaheen toured three sites along Ocean Boulevard (Route 1A) to view flooding damage to businesses, homes and infrastructure from the same catastrophic storm.  

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