By preserving nature, we can preserve our luck
High winds battered the Cape Region over the past week, pushing high tide after high tide onto the beaches and into the bays. The incoming tides flooded bayside streets and homes; piers, front yards and even roads were engulfed by rising water. The nor’easter-like storm hovered over our region for days, even repeatedly closing Route 1 from Dewey Beach to Bethany as water took over the highway.
Winds brought down trees and large branches, and homes and businesses in some low-lying areas sustained damage. Still, for the most part, officials report Cape Region towns and bayside communities weathered the storm with calm perseverance.
Major weekend events were canceled or postponed early, before weekend traffic began pouring in, and the heavy rains that fell Friday night probably slowed business, but by Saturday, locals tired of being cooped up reversed the tide and surged back into local businesses and restaurants.
Drier weather is now in the forecast, and the sun has finally reappeared. As damage assessment begins, officials are certainly grateful Hurricane Joaquin did not take aim at Chesapeake Bay but instead headed out to sea with its Category 4 winds.
Even so, to the south of us South Carolina is suffering record flooding in what has been called a 1,000-year storm. Just as was the case with Hurricane Sandy in 2012, our region escaped disaster; instead, one more in a long line of storm events grazed the Cape Region without landing a knockout punch. Too much good luck tends to foster complacency, but this is no time to just hope for the best.
As development picks up in our region, it is more critical than ever to carefully manage our oceanfront beaches. Just as critical is protecting and preserving the marshes that soak up rising water along our bays and buffer our entire region from the worst storms have to offer.
Sea level is rising, and so is the number of severe weather events. Protecting ourselves from nature’s fury requires of us that we preserve nature’s gifts.
