Storms that shaped the Delaware coast topic Sept. 14 in Rehoboth
With wide expanses of sand and quiet rolling surf, the Delaware coast is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of vacationers each summer. While most days are sunny and pleasant, sometimes the skies darken, the tides rise and the coast becomes engulfed in a violent vortex of wind, rain and in the winter months, snow.
Most prominent of these storms are the fast-moving hurricanes that have ripped along the coast destroying boardwalks and beachfront homes in their path, but the coast is also visited by great lumbering nor'easters that pound the area for days. Less well known are the ice storms that have occasionally turned southern Delaware into a frozen wasteland.
The Rehoboth Beach Museum invites members and friends to come at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 14, and listen to stories about how storms have shaped the area. Mike Morgan, historian and author, will talk about the effects weather has on the Delaware Coast.
A former high school teacher from Baltimore, Md., Morgan has been writing freelance newspaper articles on the history of coastal Delaware for over three decades. The author of Delaware Diary, which appears weekly in the Delaware Coast Press, and Sussex Journal, which is a weekly feature of the Wave, he holds a master’s degree in history from Morgan State University. For over a decade, Morgan was a member of the interpretive staff at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, where he served in the fort's living history program as the first sergeant of the Fort McHenry Guard.
Morgan has also published articles in several national magazines, and his “Lore of Delmarva” weekly radio commentary on historical topics relating to Maryland and Delaware is broadcast by station WGMD 92.7. Morgan is also the author of eight books on coastal history including “Rehoboth Beach, A History of Surf and Sand,” “Delmarva's Patty Cannon; The Devil on the Nanticoke” and “World War II and the Delaware Coast.”
The Rehoboth Beach Museum is at 511 Rehoboth Ave.. The program is free for historical society members. A $5 donation is suggested for nonmembers. Reservations are required. Call 302-227-7310 to make a reservation.
