Downed trees slow blizzard cleanup
The snow has stopped falling, but the cleanup from the recent storm and the restoration of power to all is being hampered by fallen trees all over the Cape Region.
Rehoboth Beach issued a statement Feb. 24, saying it has been in touch with Delmarva Power, and crews are in the city working to restore power. Many residents are already reporting it being back on, but there are numerous trees down and it could take a few days to remove all that are blocking streets, said the statement.
Rehoboth officials said the work is mainly being done by Sussex Tree under the direction of its city arborist.
The Delaware Electric Cooperative updated its progress in restoring power Feb. 24, saying the damage is more extensive than initially thought, especially in the rural parts of the service territory. Crews restored power to an additional 20,000 homes overnight, making it a total of 40,000 since the storm began.
“[Delaware Department of Transportation] and local farmers were great partners, helping us clear roads, which allowed our team to get a better idea of how much damage there is to the system,” said the cooperative’s update.
The cooperative said there are about 800 different damage reports, including hundreds of downed trees and more than 30 broken poles. Outages will likely continue into Wednesday and Thursday, said the notice.
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.
