KENNEBUNKPORT — During last winter’s storms, rising seas drove the Kennebunk River to a record 11 feet and washed away dozens of local roads, sandy beaches and private homes, reaching such ferocity that it stripped the signature red shingles off a historic beachside hotel.

On Thursday, Kennebunkport became one of 166 towns to win a combined $8 million in state climate resilience grants, representing the state’s largest ever round of local funding to prepare for the effects of climate change.

Communities across the state received grants, mostly ranging between $50,000 and $80,000, to protect against extreme weather events and flooding, protect infrastructure or improve energy efficiency.

Kennebunkport plans to use its share of the money to install a tide gauge in the Kennebunk River to help protect against coastal flooding.

“This area is not only vulnerable — it’s the heart of our town’s economy and identity,” said Laurie Smith, Kennebunkport’s town manager, as she stood on a section of Colony Beach that is still closed to vehicular traffic more than a year after last winter’s storm waters receded.

Smith remembered fielding calls from people who had suffered the loss of property, the loss of their dreams during last winter’s storms and wondering how the seaside community of 3,000 would ever recover. But now she is full of hope, certain they can rebuild — with state help — if they tackle one problem at a time.

This $75,000 grant is Kennebunkport’s third state climate resilience grant. It used its first two grants to conduct community listening sessions to find out which climate challenges were most important to local residents and work with a regional planning agency to develop a climate action plan.

Begun in 2021, Maine’s climate resilience partnership program helps communities like Kennebunkport bolster their defenses against climate change effects like flooding and rising sea levels. The latest round of funding brings the total amount awarded through the climate resilience partnership program to $18.8 million.

Funding for this round included $5 million from the supplemental state budget signed in May 2024 and from previous legislative allocations, alongside some federal climate funding that federal officials assure is still on its way despite the Trump administration’s shunning of all things climate related.

Gov. Janet Mills traveled to Kennebunkport to underscore that Maine was doubling down on its climate resilience mission at a time when the federal government was pulling back, noting that Maine would do what it can, for as long as it can, to help Maine communities prepare for a warmer, wetter future.

“Through the community resilience partnership, communities across our state are becoming more prepared for flooding, storm surge, rising sea levels and other climate effects that put lives and livelihoods at risk,” Mills said Thursday. “We know more severe weather is ahead.”

The grant program, initially included in the state’s climate action plan, has enrolled 263 communities, or 75% of Maine’s population. Mills is aiming for 80% community participation by 2030. The maximum grant award is $75,000 for individual communities and up to $175,000 for joint applications.

The grant awards come just days after Mills signed bipartisan legislation to spend $39 million to help with storm resilience and a week before the Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission is expected to release its final report on how the state can better prepare for future extreme weather.