Carper praises investment in beaches

Sen. Tom Carper visited Rehoboth Beach in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene to assess beach erosion and damage to the dune fences.

Joining Carper, right, were Rehoboth Mayor Sam Cooper, center, and Tony Pratt of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Carper said the lack of damage in Rehoboth shows the benefit of investing federal money in the beaches. The U.S. Army Corps of engineers partnered with DNREC to pump sand on Delaware beaches and raising the dunes in 2005, a project two-thirds funded by the federal government.

Cooper said he was grateful Irene dealt only a glancing blow. He said the biggest impact from the storm was that it punched a hole in the weekend economy, but the loss was small compared to what Irene could have been.