Oak Orchard Assesses Damages From Storm - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

Oak Orchard Assesses Damages From Storm

OAK ORCHARD, Del. - In Oak Orchard, Delaware - a substantial amount of flooding by the Indian River Bay.

Our news crew tried to get in there on Tuesday, but Oak Orchard Road is still closed off and even residents are not allowed to return to their homes until the National Guard deems it safe.

"The hurricane was bearing down on us, and the water was definitely rising and at the rate - if I didn't leave, in the vehicle, then we would not be able to get out,"resident Karl Johnson said.

We're told the water got up to 4 feet in depth, and even 5 feet in some areas of the district. Many of the houses right along the bay are still under water. As we've reported earlier this year, this is an area that is prone to severe flooding, and state and local officials have been working hard to improve the drainage in the area.

"The water did come up from the road and the back - it was fairly deep. It was much deeper than I've ever seen it. We've been doing a lot of documentation - photographs and so forth, to identify that there are issues from tidal concerns, from rain runoff, the volume and the frequency has been of concern. So it just places more urgency on fixing the issue," president of the Indian River Volunteer Fire Company Patrick Miller said.

We're told a few trees are down and some roads are closed off, but they haven't seen any severe structural damages and hope to rebound fairly quickly.