Rehoboth, Henlopen Acres cleanup is going to take a bit of time

In the wake of a snowstorm that brought everything to a screeching halt of days, Rehohoth Beach officials are warning residents and visitors that cleaning up all the tree debris from city streets and reopening all commercial parking spaces are going to take time.

“This was clearly a historical storm in Rehoboth Beach,” said City Manager Taylour Tedder, in an email Feb. 26. “This cleanup will be a long process, and so far, our employees have not only risen to the occasion, but outperformed all expectations.”

Crews representing all the public works departments were ready Sunday, and they stayed overnight in their offices or Coast Hotel, which gave the city rooms for free, said Tedder.

“From then on, it was constant. Plowing, clearing, shoveling – repeat. All over the city,” said Tedder.

Tedder said the city is still in the process of finalizing a plan to remove all the tree debris. Trees and branches that are not blocking roads or on power lines will take some time to clean up, he said.

“We need to focus on safety and functionality first and foremost around the city, and then we will conquer the branches and limbs,” said Tedder, who is recommending second homeowners come check on their properties as practicable. “Also, since many of those come from trees that are still standing, there could be a necessary assessment of those trees, which our city arborist will be doing, but due to the sheer volume, it will take time.”

Nearly four days after the last snowflake fell, Delmarva Power’s outage map was reporting isolated outages scattered throughout the city.

Delmarva crews responded as quickly as they could, and once they or the groups they contracted with were in town, power was swiftly restored, said Tedder. There are always going to be some trickier outages to deal with, depending on the scope of the damage, but the city is appreciative of the hard work to get residents back up and running, he said.

Rehoboth’s wastewater treatment plant, possibly the city’s single-most important piece of infrastructure, was caught up in the widespread power outages.

Henry Matlosz, public works director, said the plant itself lost power for a short period of time. The main concern was four wastewater pump stations losing power, including the main pump station at State Road, but power has been restored to all, he said.

Despite the loss of power, the city kept wastewater services going through the use of diesel generators.

The backup power system worked as planned, said Matlosz. The city needs to be more clear about communications regarding the backup system and generators, but it reiterated the dedication of the public works crew.

“They were dealing with the concerns [at the treatment plant and] ensuring wells were operating properly, while also helping out on the streets,” said Matlosz. “Some were sleeping on cots and doing whatever necessary to keep everything running smoothly.”

In Henlopen Acres, Rehoboth’s immediate neighbor to the north, the storm wreaked havoc on its well-known tree canopy and the houses sitting on the ground below. The town lost power from late Sunday until Tuesday morning.

Anna Fagan, Henlopen Acres town manager, said the town experienced significant impacts from the storm. There’s still a lot of work to do, but thanks to the efforts of the public works crew and others, all road access has been restored, she said.

With roads clear, Fagan said the town is turning its attention to the removal of large debris along roadways and assessing damage. There have been many reports of downed communication lines throughout the community, and town staff members are working to notify the appropriate parties to address those hazards, she said.