Flooding causing headaches in Ocean Pines

Heavy flooding has become a fixture for residents of Ocean Pines.

Marilyn Sarazini, who has owned a home in the community for about 17 years, said the previous tenants from whom she bought the house never told her about the frequent flooding that accompanied almost every major storm.

"For years we'd have ducks swimming around our house after a big rain," she said, laughing. "It turned into a whole habitat here."

The downpour on Aug. 12 brought back memories of flooding and draining issues that have become a fixture of their home-owning experience. 

Ocean Pines Public Works Director Eddie Wells said the community has been trying to improve some of those issues. 

"Rain events of this magnitude will always cause flooding," Wells said. "We have been working with the county storm water office to better improve the drainage for our residents."

Five or six years ago, she and her husband added fill-dirt to their property, hoping that the raised elevation would lessen the problem. It did help considerably, she said, but the problem is anything but gone.

Last November, massive flooding created a "deluge of water" that the pump beneath their elevated house couldn't handle, leading to roughly $1,000 in damages and major inconveniences.

"We had no electricity for several weeks," she said.

The Aug. 12 heavy storms brought another predictable bout of high, standing water to her yard and those of her neighbors.

"It's still flooded now almost a week later," she said Aug. 16. 

The Ocean City Municipal Airport reported 2.77 inches of rain Aug. 12, according to the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, Salisbury had 6.56 inches of rain that day, causing flooding and a few roads to collapse.

The rain gauge in Ocean Pines indicated rainfall of 5.15 inches, with three of those inches falling between 6 a.m. and noon that day. 

Wells echoed Sarazini's impression of the storms.

"This past rain event (Aug. 12) was some of the worst I have seen in my 16 years in Ocean Pines," he said. "The amount of rain we received in a 12-hour period was the worst I have on record since 2008, when I started keeping track of the rainfall in the Pines."

In comparison, Wells said, the amount of rain the community experienced was equal to what Hurricane Sandy dropped in 2012. The difference, however, was that the precipitation from Hurricane Sandy was dropped during a 48-hour period, whereas the August storm was closer to a 12-hour period.

"It was a lot of rain in a short time," he said. "That is why there were problems throughout all of the Worcester County and surrounding counties in Maryland and Delaware."

The flooding was severe enough that Ocean Pines issued a release alerting residents that the Worcester County Public Works Water and Wastewater department would address issues caused by the flooding.

According to a county spokeswoman, the crews remained active in Ocean Pines through the following Thursday, five days after the storm subsided.

An Ocean Pines resident for the last seven years, Debbie Udzielak said her yard had nearly 12 inches of standing water in it by the time the storms finally stopped. Her landlord had to install a pump beneath the home she rents.

"We just got so much rain all at once, then we got a little more and a little more," Udzielak said. "It's part of living on the Eastern Shore, I suppose, but that doesn't make it any less of a problem."

But one major issue, Sarazini said, is clearly present.

"I believe in climate change and I'm witnessing it," she said. "I notice that the storm surge at the canal has been reaching a higher level each year and the storms have gotten worse over the years.

"If it keeps on going like it has been, this place will be a marsh before long."