Lobster traps are stacked along the waterfront in Port Clyde in March 2023. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)

Colby College, a private liberal arts college in Waterville, is launching a program based in Port Clyde intended to better prepare Maine communities for the impacts that natural disasters have on infrastructure and local economies.

The Center for Resilience and Economic Impact will use interdisciplinary research to search for solutions before and after natural disasters like severe storms, flooding and wildfires, college officials said in an announcement Wednesday.

The center is set to open in 2026 — four years after the average rate of natural disasters in Maine increased from one to nearly five a year, according to the state.

Colby built the program in response to a state report that identified an urgent need to prepare for climate-related disasters. Nine natural disasters swept over Maine between March 2022 and May 2024.

The report, published in May by Gov. Janet Mills’ Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission, found that Maine needs to invest billions of dollars over the next 25 years into roads, water systems, municipal buildings, electric grids and critical economic engines like working waterfronts. Too much of the state’s current infrastructure is built in areas at high risk for flooding, storm surges and other natural disasters, the report said.

Samantha Horn, director of the Maine Office of Community Affairs, said in an emailed statement that “the concept for a center like this was a key recommendation” of the commission.

She said her office “is excited to work with the center on strategies to support the commission’s goals of improving data and helping community leaders across Maine make informed decisions to address challenges and build sustainability and resiliency for the long term.”

While the commission focused on how the state can take action, the Center for Resilience and Economic Impact will focus on how to support, educate and initiate action directly in local communities.

“We recognized that recovering from adversity, whether caused by a disaster or an economic shift, all require a similar focus on a community’s ability to find a path through the challenge toward a sustainable future,” Denise Bruesewitz, a Colby provost and professor of environmental studies, said in the college’s announcement.

College officials said they chose Port Clyde because of its access to two islands where the school already has research labs and because a major donor, NorthLight Foundation, was founded by local residents Dan and Sheryl Tishman. Dan Tishman co-chaired Mills’ resilience commission. The couple said they felt Port Clyde was an important location because of the major impacts climate change has had on the community.

The small village within the town of St. George, in Knox County, was one of the most damaged by back-to-back coastal storms in January 2024. The village also suffered severe tidal flooding in 2018.

According to the college, the program will address needs for economic resilience beyond natural disasters, such as future public health crises or business closures causing significant job loss.

“The lessons we are learning about how to prepare for and respond to severe weather also provide valuable guidance for confronting other pressing challenges of our time — from pandemics to economic disruption,” the Tishmans said in the announcement. “As disruptive events grow more frequent and federal support grows less certain, Maine must chart its own path to resilience. We’re thrilled to partner with Colby College to help do just that.”