A research group from the University of New England published a report on Monday about the storms that hit the state on Jan. 10 and Jan. 13, 2024, highlighting the damage caused to coastal communities.

The storms in January caused an estimated $70 million dollars’ worth of damage to coastal communities, according to a 2024 release from Governor Janet Mills’ office. The storms also received a disaster declaration from former President Joe Biden.

The research team was led by Will Kochtitzky, an assistant professor for UNE’s School of Marine and Environmental Programs, and six university students. The group mapped out storm detection using drone photography and software that produces two and three-dimensional models of the damage caused by the storms, according to a press release from the University of New England.

The report finds that beaches across Maine’s coastal communities, including Saco, Biddeford and Kennebunkport, lost 28% of coastal dunes from the back-to-back storms.

“Kochtitzky and his student team found that, across the four shorelines in southern Maine, dune areas loss ranged from 18 to 45%,” the press release from Monday stated. “While only 10 to 50% of dune volume was recovered nine months after the storm.”

The report also mentions that the state saw its highest water level on record during the Jan. 13 storms with 14.57 feet. The previous record was in 1978 with 14.17 feet, said Kochtitzky.

Restoration efforts were also found to be 90% more effective in dune recovery than taking no action, according to the report. Some of the restoration efforts included beach scraping and dune grass planting.

Beach scrapping is the process of reshaping beach and dune landforms with machinery by moving sediment from beach shorelines, according to the United States National Park Service.

There has been no other published work on these storms, said Kochtitzky in the press release.