Local watermen taking extra precautions ahead of storm

DEAL ISLAND, Md. – Wenona Marina on Deal Island looking pretty empty Friday.

“Pretty much all the watermen down here all week long have been picking up their crab pots and their equipment and getting it inland in case the storms did come,” explains Arby Holland, owner of Arby’s General Store in Wenona.

Hundreds of crab pots out of the water and about half a dozen boats no longer docked at their slips.

That’s because this area has already experienced major flooding earlier this week with the water reaching as high as the pier.

So watermen have been either moving their boats out of the water or to marinas further inland all in an effort to protect the tools that help them put food on the table.

“If they’re calling for some severe storms or whatever a lot of the watermen will take extra precautions.”

But being extra cautious can be costly.

“I haven’t been able to get anything because the catch has been slow now all of this so it really knocked us out,” Holland continues, “basically we lose a good ten days worth of business every time there’s a forecast of this type, but it’s better safe than sorry.”

Despite the lost business, the locals here say they’re not too worried about the flooding, it’s just something they have to deal with from time to time.

“You just have to take it in stride and hope for the best and hope that there is still some of the summer left with some fare weather that the watermen can get back out to work,” adds Holland.