Delmarva preparing for Hermines impact

coastal areas— including almost all of the eastern shore. and with hermine expected to reach us tomorrow — it’s safe to say locals are keeping a close eye on storm coverage tonight. especially those living in cities and towns hit hard by big storms in the past. ocean city – is one of those towns. and so is crisfield. but officials from both towns say – they have things under control and are prepared for the worst. 47 abc’s michelle mackonochie was in ocean city earlier today and has the story. “tropical storm hermine is making its way up the east coast and will begin to move on to delmarva by saturday morning. public safety officials in ocean city say beginning at 530 today all beaches are closed to swimmers.” “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.” track 1 joseph theobald is the emergency services director in ocean city. he says they were already in preparation mode — because of this weekend’s spot on the calendar. “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.” track 2 theobald says despite damage from previous storms in the past year — the dunes should be prepared. “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.” track 3 another town impacted by flooding in recent years – is crisfield. 1:53″ 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.”2:05 track 4 crisfield 69th annual hard crab derby is planned for saturday — and as of no– it’s still on — and in both towns — they’re gathering all the reinforcements they need. “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.” “nobody’s off in ocean city right now the entire governments working that’ll be the way it is until this storm is over.” “officials say they do understand there ll be a considerable amount of people in ocean city due to the holiday weekend they just ask that everybody use common sense and stay safe. in ocean city michelle mackonochie 47 abc.” and to stay up to date on any storm information — be sure to stay tuned to 47 abc our weather team — and news crews will be working together to this weekend to bring you the most comprehensive storm coverage — not just on the air — but online. so make sure you stay tuned to 47 abc — check us out anytime on 47 abc dot com — and follow us on social media for live updates on facebook, twitter and instagram. 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 m-d-t-a 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. this warning 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-thousand pounds is not permitted to cross. anything over 55 miles per hour — the bridge shuts down entirely. “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 youre 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 we have the handle to on our website – 47 abc dot com. earlier tonight 47 abc was on hand for the unveiling of