S. Bowers residents dealing with “isolating” flooding as tide rises Monday

SOUTH BOWERS, Del. – Some residents in South Bowers are worried about if they’ll be able to leave their homes after Monday’s flooding.

Dianna Smith says Bowers Road was submerged in about a foot of water Monday morning. Smith and her neighbors were forced to stay home for the day, unable to get out of the neighborhood. The weekend was filled with stocking up on food and water, and moving vehicles to higher and dryer land, she says.

“If we get a two foot storm surge because of the wind, we’re going to be an island,” said Smith. “Luckily, there’s just two of us [in my house]. So, we don’t need a lot. I know our neighbor down the road did the same thing. You do what you have to do.”

Bowers Road is notorious for flooding; often making it difficult for essential services, like mail trucks, first responders, and school busses to get in, and residents to get out. DelDOT announced they would be reconstructing the road in March. However, Smith says she and her neighbors are frustrated by what they call a lack of progress.

“We’re all sort of used to a foot of water. Isn’t that crazy?” said Smith. Folks in Milford are probably going about their business, going to the store, or whatever. There’s no normalcy. Okay, there’s eight houses out here that have full time residents now. Maybe we’re not that important. But, we’re entitled to have normalcy in our lives.”

DelDOT says they’re aiming to have the project done by the end of the year.