Erosion not a factor from Hermine on Delmarva
Beach erosion is often a reality the Delmarva coastline has to face when big storms hit.
But not this time, according to officials.
With Tropical Storm Hermine, beaches escaped with limited to no damage in both Delaware and Maryland.
Chris Gardner, the public affairs specialist with the Baltimore district of the Army Corps of Engineers, said the coastal ares in and around Ocean City also escaped unscathed.
"They did a visual of safeguards established beach nourishment project and it did perform as designed," he said. "The dunes were not impacted."
The fail safes put in place on these beaches also held up well and there was no greater damage than usual, he said.
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Terry McGean, the city engineer for Ocean City, agreed with Gardner's assessment of the beaches.
"We had very minor erosion," McGean said. "It was almost a non-event."
Ocean City experienced slight erosion around 40th, 80th and 120th street, but even in the worst spots the water did not get up to the dunes, McGean said.
"It looks like a lot of erosion we had is still in the system, which means it forms a sand bar offshore and the sand comes back to shore," he said. "But compared to other storms this was very minor erosion. Jonas was much worse than this. We don't think (the damage from Hermine) will require any repairs in the short or long term."
Eric Seymour, the hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Virginia, said the tidal gauges only showed minor flooding once, which was a different story than during previous storms.
"And that was (the afternoon of Sept. 6)," he said. "If you're not getting flood stage you're not getting high enough to cause erosion."
What weakened the impact of Tropical Storm Hermine on Delmarva was the fact the storm went over 100 miles east of what was predicted and, compared to previous storms such as Jonas, the intensity of the storm was much less severe, Seymour said.
"Jonas was stronger and the wind was closer to the shore, which explains why the beach erosion was so much worse in January than with Hermine," he said.
The January storm forced nearly 50 people to evacuate in Delaware, destroyed the fishing pier in Ocean City and caused major damage to dunes, fencing and crossovers.
But this time, much like Ocean City, the Delaware beaches also escaped the storm with minimum damage.
"We really escaped a large threat without very much damage whatsoever," said Tony Pratt, the administrator of shoreline and waterway management for the State of Delaware. "We're pretty fortunate we didn't lose any dunes, fences or dune grass."
Pratt said the storm could have been worse and Delaware beaches normally experience storms that can cause severe erosion, sometimes up to 20 feet.
"We had about a third of that over the weekend," he said. "We were expecting much worse."
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The Maryland side of Assateague Island also escaped the storm relatively unscathed.
"The island made out very well," said Bill Hulslander, the chief of resource management for the island. "There was no damage to any infrastructure."
Hulslander said the beaches did experience some erosion but nature was already repairing itself.
"The beach has kind of grown in areas," he said. "Where we lose some (sand) in some areas we gain in others."
The sand will start to come back and fill in where was taken off of sandbars in the open water.
"It'll start to come back when the tides come in," he said.
rghughes@dmg.gannett.com