The DelMarVa............Little Bit Of Info!

[Guest]

Time for a little info on a land area that connects Delaware, Maryland, And Virginia (Delmarva) now starting to become very well known because of the potential imapct of Isabel!

I will do a different town by order of what i consider to be at most risk starting with the highest risk!

This is a area known for its Beaches, Agriculture and Small towns and of course the Chesapeake Bay!..................More or less it begins at the southern end in VA where the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean connect and runs north to what some know as the C&D canal which connects the Delaware Bay/River in Delaware and the Chesapeake Bay in MD...........Yes folks northern Delaware is not considered part of the Delmarva and nor is Northeast Maryland north of the C&D canal.........................Lets start with the beaches which is where Isabel has the potential to do some major to devastating damage!.........................By far Ocean City, MD is most well known of all the places on this coast line with its ten miles of sandy beaches and as well the assawoman bay which sits to the west of Ocean City and makes Ocean City more or less surrounded by water and as well the place i see at highest risk for some serious to potentially devastating Damage!..............BTW I lived here for 6 years begining back in 85 untill 1991).....................This place i have always called as has alot of its locals a Disaster waiting to happen! Why?
First off lets talk about the layout of this town back in the early summer of 1933...................Back then even this place was known for its beaches but as well most of the main mode of transportation was Trains which of course Ocean City HAD that came from Salsbury, MD to What was =Then the south end of Ocean City.....................Back at this time the island which OC sits on ran about 20 miles north to south??????? .............Well the 1933 Chesapeake Hurricane changed the layout of OC forever and as well its main route into the resort town which was by train..................Here the town felt a full Cat 1 cane with winds gusting to cat 2 which helped push in a storm surge that ripped the Island which OC in half and as well washed out the railway and formed what is now known as the Ocean City Inlit which connects the Ocean and the Assawoman Bay with Ocean City between them.......................Back then however Ocean City only went up north about 20 blocks or so (About 15th street) and farther up was more or less bare all the way to the DE state line which at the time was about 8 miles to the northern most end of OC................( Forward in time)...........
1963. This year yet brought another powerfull storm to the coastal resort but tis time it was a nor'easter better known as the ASH Wednesday storm).............Again the Bay and the ocean met however in this case man won over mother nature and kept the Island which OC sits on from seperating and thankfully at this time not much sat in the area where the ocean and the bay met which today is known as Mid town or more or less where MD rt90 Comes into OC from the inland areas...................

Sence that time this once very small resort town has grown by leaps and bounds which leads us to 2003!............

Today at the high peak of the tourist season at any given weekend well over a 100,000 people may be in town!................Yes today Ocean city has probably grown as much as it can because just about every availble spot from the inlit to the DE state line has been developed and in some cases like the uptown areas from 94th to about 118th st has condos and hotels that sits on the beach front rising in some cases to over 20+ stories high! And this doesnt count what sits on its famous Boardwalk that runs from the inlit up to 27th St....................Whats worse is alot of areas above 30st the Ocean and the Bay is no more then about 6 city blocks apart and in some cases about 3 with Coastal highway in the middle and condos and beaches homes crowded on each side and this is the case all the way up to about 90st where the Ocean and the bay begin to get farther away from eachother which however still runs along eachother all the way up into DE and even with the seperation doesnt matter much because the highest point above sea level in this town is no more then 6ft at most and in most cases is 5ft!..................As a side note lately there has been alot of beach erosin and in some cases at high tide the ocean touches the boardwalk which will make things worse then they already are................I would guesstimate that between 10 and 20,000 people call this place home all year nowadays!..........And this doesnt take into account the areas inland on the bayside that has sprung up such as West OC and Ocean Pines which both sit on the Assawoman Bay!....................Anyways this town is what i consider to see the potential biggest impact of any on the Delmarva from Isabel and with a Possible Cat 3 impact would surely forever change this town forever!...........................My next area of Intrest takes us farther north on the Delmarva to the Delaware Coast which i will talk about later!

[Stephanie]

KOW - I'm very familiar with Ocean City, MD and I usually go to Rehobeth Beach, De at least once a year for shopping at the outlets. It is a wonderful beach area from Rehobeth, Dewey, etc. on down to Ocean City, and I cannot imagine what that whole place is going to look like when Isabel comes a knockin'! :o

[Guest]

In all honesty................Well for starters i highly doubt you will be able to get to OC For a long while untill a new bridge is constructed because i believe rt1 (Coastal HWY) Will be gone in alot of places especially between Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach.....................Either way it will not look pretty after her visit if its a direct hit especially....................I could go on but i wont and my original post here should more or less spell it out what will happen if that area recives a direct hit!

[Stephanie]

I'm sure that you are right KOW.

Usually, I take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry to DE, which takes about an hour and ten minutes. The outlets are about 5 minutes south and Ocean City, MD is about a 1/2 hour south. I how it's going to affect the ferry service, now that I think of it??? :o

[BaltimoreGirl]

I was wondering perhaps you might have an idea of the effects of this storm inland toward the Baltimore area, off the Chesapeake Bay.We live on the Patapsco River. I grew up on Long Island, and have lived through some of the larger hurricanes. As I have seen the "projected paths" and it appears that Isabel would be comng directly up the bay. Would we also have the same potential of storm surges, flooding and winds, that the coast would experience? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I am concerned. I knew what we did on LI when we were expecting a hurricane, but I need to know if I should do the same, since I am inland. Thank you.
PS. My husband, a Baltimore native doesn't seem to be as concerned as I am

[Stormsfury]

I was wondering perhaps you might have an idea of the effects of this storm inland toward the Baltimore area, off the Chesapeake Bay.We live on the Patapsco River. I grew up on Long Island, and have lived through some of the larger hurricanes. As I have seen the "projected paths" and it appears that Isabel would be comng directly up the bay. Would we also have the same potential of storm surges, flooding and winds, that the coast would experience? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I am concerned. I knew what we did on LI when we were expecting a hurricane, but I need to know if I should do the same, since I am inland. Thank you.
PS. My husband, a Baltimore native doesn't seem to be as concerned as I am

With the projected paths and the strength anticipated of the storm, not to mention that the forward speed of Isabel is expected to increase the further north it gets. I would make preparations as LEAST for a strong CAT 2 IF the projected path verifies ... Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best, and make sure that if you're requested or mandatory evacuations are issued, heed those warnings!

SF

[Guest]

Nothing is a stupid question here:)...............Welcome to the site btw BaltimoreGirl......................You have good reason to be concerned because more then likely the hurricane will push a sizable storm tide up the Bay and as well into the Rivers that drain into it.....................So yes i would suggest if Isabel does make her way up the bay for you to evacuate that area especially if your not high up from the water and have alot of trees around your house.....................BTW i have a uncle that lives in that area right by BWI and a aunt that lives in Davidsonville, MD................So i am pretty familure with the area.....................Now is the time to start getting ready and have your Hurricane kit ready to go and your car gassed up.................Keep your eyes on all the latest info here and your local media outlets!

[BaltimoreGirl]

Thank you. I am one to always plan ahead. It just seems that they are downplaying this whole thing here. Saying we are simply getting rain and wind on Thursday. I figured that if the projected path is correct, we are in for a pretty bad time. Thank you. Glad I started battening down the yard today.

[BaltimoreGirl]

we are on a 100 year flood plain, but our backyard did flood during Hurricane Fran. We are right outside Baltimore city, south of the city right on the River. I understand it has been over 20 years since a hurricane came straight up the bay, but I understand it was also devastating for this area. Guess I have lots of work ahead of me in the next few days. Thank you for the advice. Your group seems very knowledgeable and very friendly. Hope you don't mind if I stick around. I have found some of the discussions very interesting.

[Lutrastorm]

King of weather, excuse me if I step in here....

The March storm on Delmarva happened in 1962 not 63. It was an unusual storm in that it occured at the time of the spring full moon and continued to build and linger as a slow moving nor'easter. this storm lingered for a few days, almost stalling over the area pushing ever rising high tides into the bays and onshore for many more than just a a few tide cycles.

The bay and ocean have met many more times since then, but never with the devastating effects of the March of 62 storm.

Just this week at one extreme high tide (thanks to the moon and Henri) the ocean breached the dune line north of Indian River inlet at high tide .

We cannot survive a Cat 3 or 4 on the Delaware shore. We will at least lose the Inlet or grow another north of the existing, and probably most oceanfront or oceanblock homes on the Delaware coast.


Still contemplating the exit plan.....

Sandy
AKA Lutrastorm

[Guest]

Thanks Sandy for pointing that out!................And every statement you made is correct especially with what may happen if Isabel is that strong when she gets there......................And with that exit plan i would suggest atleast beeing west of US113 More or less from Dagsboro west and or more perferably North like towards Dover and on up to Wilmington, DE....................Dover is best bet because im not too sure if there is a ton of damage that the Bridges over the CD canal or even the Bay Bridge in MD would be open to cross over which themselves could be damaged....................Thanks again for the march 62 correction.............

[Lutrastorm]

Elevations will be a problem with any extreme rainfall from Bethany to Newark on the north or Delmar to the West.

On August 17, 1989 we had an incredible rainstrom stall over us and it subsequently deposited 15 inches of rain over night. EVERY stream and tributary to the Bays were flooded and almost every bridge on secondary roads were washed out.

We have no topography for drainage. WE'RE FLAT!!! Any exteme rainfall will lay in the spot it falls and again wash out secondary road bridges.


I live 4 miles inland with only a 14' elevation over sea level. My biggest question is how far any storm surge will advance on relatively flat ground.

[Guest]

That is a very good question about the storm surge?.....................I guess it doesnt help that thier is not much to compare this possible event with.....................You know speaking of this storm surge i really hope those that live in places such as Long Neck and along the other back bay communities get out....................I say that because back in 98 that area saw bad flooding from the noreaster which pales in comparison to this hurricane..................I lived back there at the time and my house sat about a 1/4 mile away from the bay and i still had water a foot or so deep in my yard from the tidal flooding...................Either way like i said its gonna be hard to find anything about this sort of thing about that area seeing how it hasnt fdealt with something like this before.....................Hopefully someone who lives in a flat area such as the case with the Delaware coast can add something to this that has seen this kind of hurricane come through................

[Lutrastorm]

If the ocean wants to come in, it's not gonna wait for the proper tides. Indian River Bay, Rehoboth Bay, Delaware Bay, Little and Big Assawoman Bays will fill in no time. Fortunately a lot of tidal marshes still exist to help with the extremes... The hope is that Issy passes in extreme haste so the wench doesn't linger on our shores. If she passes post haste, we could be spared some of the flooding that would occur if she dilly-dallied.

And....about that storm surge..........any answers yet?