Day after storm reveals dune damage in Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beach's mayor says a section of the north end of the Boardwalk will need to be completely rebuilt after heavy damage from winter storm Jonas.
Mayor Sam Cooper said a section of the Boardwalk between Grenoble Place and the Henlopen Hotel suffered major damage after the dunes protecting the boards was breached. Cooper said once the dunes were overcome, water was able to get underneath the Boardwalk structure and lift the boards loose. The city has closed the Boardwalk in this area to foot traffic.
Cooper said besides the north end of the Boardwalk and some spots near Maryland Avenue, the Boardwalk was largely undamaged other than washed up sand. However, the dunes have been almost completely eroded by the storm.
City officials will be holding discussions in the coming days as to how to repair the damage. The Boardwalk was mostly built with federal stimulus money in 2009, and Cooper said money for rebuilding could come as a result of federal disaster funds. He said the city would work through Sussex County to get a damage assessment to determine what kind of help Rehoboth could get for recovery.
The wiping out of the dunes will require beach replenishment; Cooper said the city was scheduled for replenishment anyway in the spring, but now, with the storm damage all along the Mid-Atlantic coast, he was concerned that there may not be enough contractors with the kind of specialized equipment needed for beach replenishment work. Cooper said the big question to be worked out is what order projects get done; he said he anticipates New Jersey coastal towns and Ocean City, Md. to also seek beach replenishment.
"There's only so many vessels that can do this kind of work," Cooper said. "We just have to get in line and hope to be done before summer."
Until the dunes are replenished, Cooper said the Boardwalk is very exposed to another large storm. He noted that the famous Storm of '62 took place in March.
"For the next two to three months we don't have the protection of before," Cooper said.
Commissioner Stan Mills said the city was prepared and that the damage was not as bad as it could have been. He said while the dunes were heavily damaged, they also prevented damage to beachfront homes and businesses.
"The healthy dune and wide beach was our saving grace," Mills said.
He said without the dunes or the wide beach the city could have well lost three-quarters of the Boardwalk.
As for how this storm measures up to damaging storms in 1962 and 1992, Cooper said it was hard to compare because of the dunes, which were not present in 1962 and 1992. Jonas went on almost all day, whereas the 1992 storm was very quick, Cooper said. The 1992 storm is probably the closest comparison, since it also took place in January, but Cooper said that storm came and went within an hour.
