Dune destroyed in Rehoboth Beach following storm

A dune along the north-end of the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk has been wiped out as a result of the winter storm.

“It’s so beautiful here most of the time…all of the time.” Says Lewes resident Suzanne Yenzi. “And we see so much destruction, and it’s sad for me anyway.”

Tony Pratt, administrator of Shoreline and Waterway Management for the state of Delaware, says the dune was destroyed because tides ran about four feet above average. He says that, combined with tremendous waves, caused water to wash right into the high mound and forced it to erode.

“This is an area that is now particularly vulnerable.” Explains Pratt. “There is no dune any longer and so if we had a subsequent storm, there would be very little resistance to the waves coming up and now getting into the infrastructure and the parking lot and doing some further damage.”

The north-end of the boardwalk has already been piled with a generous amount of sand from the dune being knocked down.

Pratt says the construction of a new structure could possibly begin in the fall but in the meantime, officials will have to recreate a smaller version with the sand that is available for storm protection.

He tells 47ABC it’s too early to determine how much it will cost to rebuild a new dune; however, we’re told the city will be handling the restoration efforts of the boardwalk.

“The city will have to come in and pull all of this sand off of here and put it back on the beach front and access it with their engineers whether there’s damage that would prohibit people from walking on it, so that’s why it’s closed at this point.” He explains.

U.S. Senator Tom Carper says tens of millions of dollars have gone into building protective dunes all over Delaware, but it’s an investment through state and federal funding that essentially pays for itself.

“It won’t be cheap, were talking about millions of dollars but it’s compared to what? Compared to replacing the town? It’s a bargain.” Says Senator Carper.

He says the destruction of the dune could be looked at as a good thing, because that means it did its job of protecting the businesses along the boardwalk from destruction.

Pratt says agencies in Delaware will be working together to survey the damage and come up with a redesign over the next several months.

City officials in Rehoboth Beach say they’d like to at least clean up the sand on the boardwalk in the upcoming week.