DelDOT installs miniature weather stations to monitor flooding
Looking to gather information on flooding in areas that experience frequent road closures, the Delaware Department of Transportation has installed a number of small weather stations on Route 1 and in Oak Orchard.
DelDOT spokesman Charles “C.R.” McLeod said the $2,500 cameras have been installed on southbound Route 1 near New Road south of Dewey Beach, near the Indian River Inlet bridge on the southbound access road, and near Cotton Patch north of Bethany Beach. Another was installed on River Road in Oak Orchard.
The weather stations come from Illinois-based Frost Solutions.
For now, the weather stations are just monitoring flooding, because that is the issue that leads to lane or full closures in these areas, said McLeod in an email Nov. 13. These units are being used to assist in flood forecasting and gathering real-time information from those specific locations during storms, he said.
The weather station near New Road is in the area where DelDOT raised Route 1 about 6 inches in 2018. Despite the increase, there have been a few flood-related closures coming from Rehoboth Bay in the same area this past year.
Currently, there are no plans to add asphalt in these areas, said McLeod.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
