January storm opens door for current flooding by Delaware coast

It was a familiar scene in a number of Delaware’s coastal towns as residents deal with this latest round of severe weather.

“The usual places where we customarily have flooding issues is where we’re seeing the flooding,” said Joe Thomas, the director of Sussex County Emergency Operations.

Thomas tells 47 ABC this latest storm system overlaps the conditions set in place by the nor’easter just a few weeks ago.

We found sand on the roads in the Lewes Beach area brought in by storm surge, along with roadway flooding.

In Rehoboth, many of the same problems. Sand on the boardwalk, because of the dunes being cut down in size from the last storm.

DelDot shut down Route One, Tuesday, between Dewey and Bethany Beach.

Thomas tells us the tide cycle from Tuesday morning should be the worst of the rain storm that started Monday night.

“These kind of flooding events although their typically not where we have a lot of problems, because of the condition of the beaches and the dunes, we just have to be vigilant,”

As for more beach erosion, DNREC says that as of Tuesday afternoon they hadn’t received any reports of additional shoreline damage.

They told us, “We are about done with this storm and do not have any further concerns”.

Emergency operations officials in Sussex County tell 47 ABC as of right now, there is no target date to begin replenishing Delaware’s beaches, but they say FEMA assistance may eventually be available.