Just a few days ago, Zack Pike could see the finish line of the first phase of a downtown Skowhegan revitalization project.

But then Monday’s rain and windstorm drove 5 feet of water into the basement.

The Spinning Mill — which produced yarn for part of its life and popsicle sticks in another — sits on the banks of the Kennebec River.

The massive old building took the body blows from gusty winds and heavy rain that knocked out power to more than 400,000 people across Maine and prompted an emergency declaration for 14 of the state’s 16 counties.

And as power crews continue to restore electricity and the rivers begin to recede, Pike said Thursday the Skowhegan project will move forward, albeit somewhat delayed.

“It ruined the electrical wiring, everything up to chest level, all the drywall we were ready to start putting up,” said Pike, owner of Pike Project Development, the general contractor for the mill project. “All of the walls are saturated. Obviously, it was a great staging point for the millions of dollars in windows we were about to put up.”

Across Maine, businesses along major rivers have pumped water out of basements and are assessing the damage following Monday’s surprisingly strong storm that dumped several inches of rain and brought winds up to 70 mph along the coast.

Gov. Janet Mills toured the Skowhegan mill project Thursday, one day after viewing the flooding in Augusta.

“This building is still sturdy, is still standing and this project is going to go forward,” Mills said as she stood in thick mud in the basement where the water rushed in following the storm.

She said the $20 million project — set to include 20 hotel rooms, 41 apartments and a 3,000-foot restaurant space — and the recent expansion of nearby New Balance, is vital to the Skowhegan community.

“I’m confident it will still occur, it may be slowed down a little, but we’ll do everything we can to help move it forward,” Mills said. “As you can see this is more than a 50-year flood I would say.”

Pike said if the storm hadn’t hit, the hotel rooms were on track to be ready by early next year.

“We would have been in the middle of January,” he said. “We would have had the basement and first floor completely ready to go.”

Maine Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Heather Johnson described the mill revitalization as an anchor for the downtown.

Johnson said the damage at the mill is just one example of what businesses are having to cope with following the storm.

“I think it’s a very easy visual for all the impacts businesses across the state have had these past few days,” she said. “It’s a really difficult time for Maine people and Maine business owners.”

She said it’s too early to estimate the financial impacts of the storm and that several teams are out assessing the damage. Although some estimates of damage at the Skowhegan mill came in at $3 million, Pike said he wasn’t prepared to guess at a dollar amount.

Mills spoke to reporters about the importance of planning for more damaging weather because of the effects of climate change. She urged local leaders to look for their weak spots.

“Show us the vulnerabilities,” she said. “Let’s be prepared for the next storm. Communities need to be looking at all their vulnerabilities and not pretend this is the last time this is going to happen. It could well re-occur.”

Mills also spoke about the challenges posed by the state’s natural terrain.

“We love our rivers in Maine and we love our trees, but we sometimes have a love hate relationship with these natural resources that we care so much about and make us so unique,” Mills said.