The Jan. 4 snowstorm, together with the brutally cold weather before and after it, could have been a lot worse, Deputy Director Melissa Temple said in an interview Monday.

“I think that the October windstorm was a wakeup call,” she said. “As bad as it was – and some people were out of power for nine days (after last fall’s storm) – the weather was at least mild. At the time, we were all saying, ‘This could have happened in December or January. Think how bad it would have been then!’”

But when it did happen in December, people were prepared, she said. “People knew to have water and fuel and food and lamp oil and other supplies on hand. We also had a lot of luck this time. At the height of the storm, we only had 4,000 people out of power, and most of them were back within a few hours.”

Warming stations opened in Boothbay Harbor and Wiscasset. “Mostly, they were not needed, because people were ready this time. But people who had frozen pipes and needed water or a shower could stop by one of the shelters and get what they needed.”

The worst issue was flooding. “The storm occurred in conjunction with an astronomical high tide. Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta, and South Bristol all had some flooding.” Temple said the storm surge reminded her of a coastal tsunami. “It was eerie watching the water recede from the coastline, and then have the water flood back in.”

A few lines went down, especially in rural areas of Wiscasset, and the crews couldn’t use bucket trucks until the worst of the wind stopped. “In the worst cases, the power was back within a few hours,” she said.

Temple cautioned, while the county may have dodged a bullet with this storm, preparedness is important at all times. “Most people have depleted their emergency supplies, so the time is now, while the weather is calm, to get ready for the next one,” she said.