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A low-pressure system pummeled the Cape Region with 30- to 40-mph winds with gusts over 60 mph as up to three inches of rain fell late Sunday, May 11, and Monday, May 12.
The rare spring nor’easter combined to cause widespread power outages, road closures, downed trees and power lines, flooding in low-lying areas and early school closings.
The Delaware Bay Kent County coast towns of Pickering Beach and Kitts Hummock were evacuated.
The National Weather Service posted storm and gale warnings Sunday night with seas of 11 to 13 feet and sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 50 mph.
The highest recorded gust in the area at 68 mph occurred in Lewes at 10 a.m., Monday, according to the National Weather Service, and Cape Henlopen students were sent home by 1 p.m.
Coast Guard rescue
The extreme weather broke apart the research vessel Russell W. Peterson 14 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued two crewmembers from the sea within three hours of getting a distress signal.
The Coast Guard received the distress signal at 7:56 a.m., Monday, that the ship was breaking apart and taking on water, said Petty Officer Nyxo Cangemi, Coast Guard spokesman.
By 10:30 a.m., a Coast Guard rescue team had the two crewmembers aboard the helicopter.
The pair was rescued in high seas by a U.S. Coast Guard rescue squad and hoisted from the ocean by a helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J. The men were transferred to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md. He said one of the victims did not have vital signs upon arrival.
Cangemi said the distress signal came from the pair on board who activated the electronic positioning indicating radio. He said they indicated they had a raft and dry suits.
A rescue helicopter from Atlantic City and boats from stations in Cape May, N.J., and Ocean City, N.J., were dispatched.
Cangemi said when Coast Guard crews arrived, there were 8- to 10-foot waves with some swells rising as high as 12 to 14 feet.
“This has been an extremely busy day for the Coast Guard,” Cangemi said, “but it’s something we train for.”
The Russell W. Peterson, which was docked in Lewes, was in the process of monitoring bird flights in a study related to the proposed wind farm off the coast of Rehoboth Beach. The vessel ran ashore in Bethany Beach.
Power outages
Early Monday morning, there were as many as 23,000 Sussex County residents without power – most east of Route 113.
Layton Wheeler, Delaware Electric Cooperative spokesman, said crews restored power to all but 154 members by 9 a.m., Monday, and then it spiked to 10,500 outages at 10 a.m., with the loss of two substations. Power had been restored to all but about 2,500 members as of 12:30 p.m., Wheeler said.
Problem areas included Long Neck, Selbyville and Frankford.
Matt Likovich, Delmarva Power spokesman, said power was out to about 13,000 customers in midmorning Monday, but it had been restored to all but 2,700 customers by 12:30 p.m.
Wheeler said because of rain-drenched ground and high winds, crews have found downed poles and even cross-arms broken off. Flooded roads have hampered some crews.
“This is not your typical May storm,” Wheeler said. “We are having problems with trees and limbs not in the rights-of-way falling onto transmission lines.” Problem areas included Rehoboth Beach, Milton and Millsboro in the Cape Region.
Both power companies planned to have power restored to most customers by Monday night. “Of course, all of that is subject to change depending on the weather,” Likovich said.
“This has been a very poor beginning to the week,” Wheeler said.
Next high tide
Worries from officials were expressed that high wind would drive the next high tide between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and cause extensive flooding in a widespread area of the county.
Tides were expected to be about 3.5 to 4 feet above normal at high tide on Monday afternoon for a tide of 7 to 8 feet, said Lee Robertson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mt. Holly, N.J.
“Northeast winds are the worst because the water is directed on shore and pushed inland – a phenomenon called the Ekman spiral,” he said.
With somewhat diminishing winds late Monday into Tuesday. Robertson said water should recede in time for the next high tide early Tuesday morning.
And Tuesday’s forecast is for sunny skies with light wind.
Debra Jones, Sussex County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) spokeswoman, said all eyes were on conditions for the next tide changes.
“We are concerned about the next two tide cycles,” she said. “The high winds could hold the water in the back bays.”
She said of particular concerns are the areas of Oak Orchard, Long Neck and Slaughter Beach.
She said Sussex EOC staff met with Delaware State Police and Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) staff early Monday, and they are in contact with the National Weather Service.
“There is minor coastal flooding, but we have not been requested to set up any shelters and there have been no evacuations in Sussex,” she said.
As of 1 p.m., Monday, DelDOT had closed three Sussex County roads because of high water: Routes 209 and 224 in the Slaughter Beach area and Route 312 in the Oak Orchard area.
Possible high-tide flooding could mean that more roads would be closed, including Route 1 along the coast, said Tina Shockley, DelDOT spokeswoman.
Police were asking motorists not to travel during the storm period Monday afternoon. Cpl. Wes Barnett, state police spokesman, said most roads were passable, but conditions changed hour to hour.
“We have had numerous reports of downed wires, trees and tree limbs in roadways, and we also have had flooding on some streets and highways,” he said. “Motorists need to use their best judgment when traveling, and they should prepare for the possibility of delays throughout this event,” he said.
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