Sandy teaches us important lessons
There are many lessons from the region's experience this week with Hurricane Sandy. Foremost is a lesson espoused by author Ernest Hemingway. He wrote that it's better to be lucky than good. When you're good, he said, you still have to work very hard to be successful. However when you're lucky, success comes easily. And so it is with Hurricane Sandy. No matter how hard everyone worked to get prepared for this megastorm - and thousands of individuals and organizations spent plenty of time and money getting as prepared as possible - we nonetheless have to thank our lucky stars for being spared the full brunt of a storm that ravaged millions of our neighbors to the north.
Secondly, well-reasoned reactions are better than knee-jerk reactions. Delaware officials from the governor on down used all technological and information resources available to keep citizens calmly informed over the days before and during Sandy's arrival. Of particular note is Sussex County's Emergency Operations Center, which used traditional and social media to broadcast articulate, timely and informative videos that kept the citizenry apprised of what was happening and what resources were available to help those affected or jeopardized by the storm. While surrounding states jumped on the state of emergency bandwagon quickly, Delaware took its time, not wanting to frighten people unnecessarily. In Rehoboth Beach, where the year's largest festival - Sea Witch - was under way, holding off on the emergency declaration allowed festival organizers to realize the benefit of a full day of activities and visitors still had time to get home safely.
The third and most graphic lesson learned from Sandy is that the sand-starved beach north of Indian River Inlet must be replenished, by immediately implementing the sand bypass system or bringing back the offshore dredging machines, or, better still, both. A timely replenishment project this year protected our oceanfront beach towns, but not the north side of the inlet. The protective barrier for the new bridge provided by the approach to the old bridge is now largely gone. With plenty of nor'easter season still ahead, our beautiful new inlet bridge stands in a perilous situation that must be addressed. Fill the northside beach sooner, not later.
