Delmarva preparing for Hermines impact
As of Friday afternoon, the governors of both Maryland and Virginia have issued a state of emergency for coastal areas including almost all of the Eastern Shore. With Hermine expected to reach us Saturday morning, it’s safe to say locals are keeping a close eye on storm coverage, especially those living in cities and towns hit hard by big storms in the past such as Ocean City and Crisfield. But officials from both towns say they have things under control and are prepared for the worst.
47 ABC spoke with John Theobald, emergency services director in Ocean City and he says beginning at 5:30 P.M. Friday all beaches are closed to swimmers. Theobald tells 47 ABC, “There’s a lot of uncertainty with this storm. We put everything together that we possibly can, all the departments are working in sync and we’re going to keep the public safe.
Theobald says they were already in preparation mode because of this weekend’s spot on the calendar. Theobald tells 47 ABC, “Our plans are in place, it’s going to be a crowded Ocean City for this weekend because it is Labor Day weekend and whatever this forecast is we’re going to manage it and be able to keep the public safe, that’s our number one issue right now is keeping the public safe.”
Theobald says despite damage from previous storms in the past year, the dunes should be prepared. Theobald tells 47 ABC, “We feel that there’s enough protection in place at this point that there going to be doing its job tomorrow that’s for sure, the oceans going to get quite ugly and we don’t foresee any issues at this point. We’ve been through this before we’ll be through it again.”
Another town impacted by flooding in recent years is Crisfield. 47 ABC spoke with city manager Richard Pollitt and when asked if he’s concerned, he says, “Of course we’re concerned, anytime we’re going to have a major rain event just because of the high tides and the propensity of Crisfield to flood when we have a lot of water.”
Crisfield’s 69th annual Hard Crab Derby is planned for Saturday and as of now, it’s still on. In both towns, they’re gathering all the reinforcements they need. Pollitt tells 47 ABC, “We’ve got all of our emergency generators powered up and ready to go if we need them we’ve got sandbags, everyone knows their job we’re kind of used to this weather.”
As far as extra crew on hand for the weekend in Ocean City, Theobald tells 47 ABC, “Nobody’s off in Ocean City right now the entire governments working, that will be the way it is until this storm is over.”
Also preparing for the storm, the Maryland Transportation Authority. They say that the Bay Bridge could see some wind warnings and possibly restrictions as well. John Sales of the MDTA says no decisions have been made as of yet, they say it’s minute by minute.
Wind warnings are prompted by gusts between 30 and 39 miles per hour and is meant for a caution for all motorists. A wind restriction comes when winds are 40 to 49 miles per hour and empty box trailers can be stopped by law enforcement prior to crossing. Wind gusts over 50 miles per hour is considered a full wind restriction and any tractor trailer under 64,000 pounds is not permitted to cross. Anything over 55 miles per hour the bridge shuts down entirely.
47 ABC spoke with Sales and he says, “When its raining out you want to use extra caution especially when you’re on a bridge because the wind gusts and the cross winds can have an impact on you as well, so just use caution when you’re crossing, use the speed limit, headlights on at all times when you’re crossing the Bay Bridge.”
Sales says to stay up to date on the latest warnings and closures you can call 1-877-BAY-SPAN or you find updates on their twitter page which is, @TheMDTA
