FENWICK — Still reeling from the late January winter storm that walloped Delaware beaches and coastal communities, Governor Jack Markell last week submitted a formal request to President Barack Obama seeking $2.5 million in federal relief funds to begin to repair the damages.
In late January, Winter Storm Jonas hit the mid-Atlantic region and much of the northeast with record snowfall amounts, severe flooding, high winds, heavy seas and coastal flooding. In Delaware’s neighboring beach communities, the storm was a classic Nor’easter that ravaged the coastline, breached the dunes in many areas and destroyed sections of the boardwalks in Bethany Beach and Rehoboth.
Last week, Markell submitted a formal request asking for a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Delaware to help mitigate the damage and expedite repairs particularly to the coastal areas in communities like Fenwick Island, Bethany and Rehoboth. The request seeks $2.5 million in federal funds, specifically for public assistance in the form of a major disaster declaration for Sussex County.
“January’s Nor’easter produced large snowfall totals, damaging winds as well as substantial and damaging coastal flooding across the state,” he said. “Homes and businesses sustained major damage or were destroyed and state-maintained beaches suffered major erosion and dune breaches. I have requested $2.5 million in public assistance through a federal disaster declaration to help repair damage done by the storm and hopefully that money will help our coastal communities rebuild what they’ve lost and prepare for the thousands of people who visit each summer.”
In his letter to the president, Markell said the January storm included tidal surges and coastal flooding mirroring the famed storm in 1962 that devastated resort communities in Delaware and Maryland including Ocean City.
“Winds from the storm, combined with high astronomical tides, produced particularly significant tidal flooding along sections of the Delaware coastline,” Markell’s letter to the president reads. “Several near-record peak storm-tide elevations were recorded at U.S. Geological Survey continuous record tide gages, comparable with the record levels set during the 1962 Ash Wednesday Storm.”
The letter adds, “During the event, over 50 residents had to be evacuated due to flooding, thousands of homes lost power, multiple major roadways were flooded throughout Sussex County and moderate to major erosion took place along virtually all of Delaware’s ocean and bayside beaches.”
