OC preps for start of hurricane season

When you’re in the water this summer, in Ocean City, sitting on the sand, enjoying the sun, the last thing you’re probably thinking about is the millions of dollars that made sure you had all that sand to sit on. After the severe weather Delmarva saw last year, and even this winter,  towns all along the peninsula’s coastline pumped a lot of money into dumping sand back onto the beaches.This fact weighs heavily on town and county officials who are prepping for the start of a new hurricane season.

Fred Webster, the Director of Worcester County Emergency Services says, “our planning starts anywhere from three to five days ahead of the storm ever getting near the Delmarva peninsula.”

Terrence McGean, the city engineer, tells us the storm this past October and this year’s Nor’easter resulted in $1 million in damage to the dunes.

“We have done an emergency project to repair our dunes,” says McGean.

McGean tells us as of right now  the dunes are in good shape, but he admits the amount of sand is not where it needs to be.

“We are ready for another storm, but if we have another storm and after that we may be vulnerable,” says McGean.

McGean says Ocean City beaches can take one more storm before it will be in desperate need of restoration. He tells us engineers are in the process of drafting a beach replenishment plan for 2017. However in the meantime, town spokesperson Jessica Waters tells us they’re preparing for the worst and have a close eye on flood zones near the inlet.

“We want people to know that even though you’re not here it is till important to know what is going on in your property and perhaps posting that zone,” says Waters.

We’re told the town and county’s emergency management center will be communicating, and will be ready to pull the public into the loop if an emergency arises or evacuation is needed.

“It’s the beginning of the hurricane season but we can have a hurricane at any time,” says Water.

Ocean City  officials tell us it is too early to estimate how much their 2017 beach replenishment plan will cost. Town officials also provided us  with an update on the Ocean City pier,  which was supposed to be back open Memorial Day weekend. However, they tell us repairs were delayed due to inclement weather the past weeks. Town officials estimate the pier will be open by the end of June.