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The Great Storm of March 6-8, 1962, devastated the Delaware beaches. The University of Delaware Sea Grant College Program and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will cosponsor a workshop this weekend to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the storm.
For more on the workshop, see http://www.ocean.udel.edu/newscenter/storm02.html.
The UD Sea Grant College Program, which is administered through the College of Marine Studies, also supplied information and footage on the storm to The Weather Channel. That information aired Tuesday and Wednesday, March 5-6.
Wendy Carey, a coastal processes specialist with the Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service at UD’s Lewes campus, answered the following questions about the Great Storm. Information was taken from a DNREC brochure about the ’62 storm, which is available by calling the state agency’s Division of Soil and Water Conservation at (302) 739-4411.
What caused the great storm?
The Great Storm of March 6-8, 1962, hit with little warning and without historic precedent. Lasting through five high tides and generating waves as high as 20-40 feet, this formidable storm pushed the Atlantic Ocean onto the Delaware coast with a fury. The onslaught of waves and tidal action weakened and undermined even the most permanent shoreline structures, resulting in structural damage and collapse.
The ’62 Storm was a coastal storm, or northeaster. The slow-moving late winter coastal storm was unusual in its development, composition and behavior. Two low-pressure systems formed off the U.S. East Coast, held in place by a high-pressure system that was stationary over eastern Canada. The high-pressure system stalled the forward movement of the coastal storm, resulting in the generation of record-setting winds, waves and tides.
Estimates of deep water waves off the Delaware coast were reported to be 40 feet in height, and waves intersecting the coast in Delaware’s surf zone reached heights estimated between 20 and 30 feet. Steady winds of gale force (35-45 miles per hour) from the northeast, with gusts up to 70 miles per hour, resulted in a continuously elevated tidal water level, or storm surge, of 3-5 feet above normal.
The magnitude of the waves and tides produced by this rare meteorological event was further amplified by the fact that these tides were exceptionally high lunar, or spring, tides.
In fact, the high tide on March 6, 1962, remains the highest ever recorded at Breakwater Harbor at the mouth of Delaware Bay.
How much damage did it cause?
What is remembered most about this storm is the tragic loss of life, the destruction of homes and businesses and roadways buried under tons and tons of sand. The storm caused significant damage to beaches in Delaware, and to private and public structures and infrastructure. Additionally, there were seven deaths in Delaware as a result of the storm.
Beaches:
As storm waves swept over the beach and dunes, sand was moved from the ocean to the bays. Huge waves eroded the beaches, pounded the shore, and flattened the dunes, continuously battering coastal areas for three days.
The duration of the storm caused unprecedented destruction of the beaches and dunes. Sand that had been held in beach and dune systems surged landward with the encroaching storm surf. The storm washed vast quantities of sand inland, depositing sand on highways and in and around homes.
In many cases, the deposits of sand averaged 3-4 feet in depth, and some deposits were as high as 6 feet.
One of the first major efforts after the storm was to remove sand from roadways and yards so that normal functions could be resumed.
Property Damage:
Forty years ago, development along the Delaware coast was relatively sparse by today’s standards. Beachfront cottages, many at ground level on concrete block foundations, were built without the expectancy of huge waves washing completely over barrier beaches. The unusually high wind-driven tides carried the breaking waves inland to reach buildings and structures that would ordinarily be beyond the reach of such tides.
Boardwalks, houses and other structures were destroyed on sites where they had been safe for 60-80 years.
Many communities along the Kent and Sussex shores of Delaware Bay from Pickering Beach to Lewes, reported flood water depths exceeding 4.5 feet. The damage to beaches and dunes was extensive in these areas, and homes were washed away. Communities fronting the Inland Bays’ shorelines suffered similar damage. Oak Orchard recorded 2-3 feet of floodgates, with waves up to 4 feet rolling across Rehoboth Bay.
Along the Atlantic Coast, the boardwalks in Bethany and Rehoboth were pulverized. Buildings that had fronted on the sea for over a half-century were demolished.
A total of 1,932 homes sustained damage from widespread tidal flooding in Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island. Wave action destroyed 28 of 29 oceanfront homes in Bethany, as well as every oceanfront home in South Bethany.
The cost of recovery was unlike anything the state had experienced before. Private property loss, much of it uninsured, and public infrastructure costs were at a record high.
Additional costs of the storm included casualties suffered by power companies, telephone and telegraph companies, gas companies, water and sewage treatment companies and the costs of debris removal, costs of combating health hazards, evacuation and relief to flood victims, losses to oyster grounds and clam beds and policing to prevent looting.
Cost estimates (1962 dollars)
Public and private property damage: $50 million
Cost to repair beaches and dunes: $20 million
Personal property losses: $20 million
How long did it take for the beach communities to recover?
Many of the major coastal communities had rebuilt beaches, dunes and boardwalks by the summer season.
Could another such storm happen again?
Yes, it is quite possible that a northeaster of these proportions will hit Delaware again. In fact, as recently as last year (March, 2001), a storm of similar size and circumstance threatened Delaware’s coast. Fortunately, it did not stall offshore for three days, but rather moved quickly north towards New England. However, the exact same set of circumstances (high lunar tides, severe low pressure system, high pressure to the north) existed for a couple of days last March.
As recently as 1992 and 1998, severe northeasters have inflicted significant damage to Delaware beaches and coastal communities.
March 8, 2002
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