Nor’easter Lemonade
You always hear the phrase when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. When you live in an area that is prone to flooding from storms, you just deal with it like it is a normal thing. The flooding from this storm with no name has been bad, never mind the mind numbing constant winds and rain. Many people were stuck in their homes, mostly by choice. You can either go out and drive through saltwater and possibly ruin your vehicle, or you stay put. There were a lot of people out and about today, some doing their normal routines for work, visiting for events that were canceled, and came down anyway. Some folks came down just to see the storm that was creating a spectacle at the beach with giant fast waves and covering the beaches with water and foam. Regardless of the reason to be out and about everyone made the best of it. Some folks even went the extra mile and had fun with it. Weddings were moved not canceled and one was even performed on the Rehoboth boardwalk in the middle of the storm. Kids were playing in the flood waters, kayakers were cruising their neighborhoods, and others were just taking a break anyway they could after spending the day pumping water out of their houses. I have been home all day getting updates from friends and keeping everyone updated on Facebook of the storm conditions as they happened. Just like we did during Superstorm Sandy, today was one heck of a job and it ain’t over yet.
We still have a few high tides to go through (36 hours) for the water to completely drain out of the inland bays. Might take a couple days for that to start happening. The tide tonight will be as bad if not worse than this afternoon as far as flooding. There is still a lot of water in flooded areas. Like we said yesterday this is not a minor storm and thankfully has not been a major one, but it is right in the middle for severity. This one is still in the top ten for annoying, just like any storm. Many people are seeing water in areas they have never seen before. We have been dealing with heavy winds for two weeks, and there is more to come. Ocean City Maryland is saying they don’t think the water will leave their streets until Monday or Tuesday at the latest. The low tides are still too high for drainage areas to remove runoff water from the rain. We have chances of rain tomorrow, and heavy winds gusting to 40 MPH and Monday to 30 MPH. These winds will still push water into the coast line and back bays. Making it difficult for water to drain and go back to normal level tides. Eventually things will calm down but we will see strong winds most of the week, but not as bad as the weekend. Hurricane Joaquin will be far off the coast, but still give us hurricane effects, with winds and storm surge. So long as it follows the projected path we will be fine. I can not imagine if that had made landfall in our area as was predicted a few days ago. We would be in some serious trouble.
Some people did manage to do a little fishing today. Alan Battista author of Light Tackle Kayak Trolling the Chesapeake Bay, hit the water in the upper Chesapeake bay and caught some nice striped bass. Cabin fever got the best of him apparently, and he had a good day. Don’t worry he is not crazy, he knows a decent spot that doesn’t get as hammered by Northeast winds. I don’t know of anyone who tried to fish here today, the Indian River inlet would have been a good choice but route 1 was closed off and on so much, that would have been difficult. The other night after the storm started, a few people fished Indian River Inlet and were hitting striped bass, all shorts but they caught. Today everywhere else was flooded and full of dangerous currents. The entire park in Milton looked like a good place and you could have fish the parking lot in a few places. Ethan Henry and his buddies tried fishing in their driveways today for the bait fish that were swimming around. Times like these you can crab in your yard, streets, and parking lots. You would be surprised what is left behind when the waters recede. After one flood in Oak Orchard a few years back, my neighbor had two hundred eels in his yard that stayed after the marsh drained. You just never know what you will find.
Before the storm hit Tautog season started and a few folks tried the inner and outer walls and were awarded with some nice taug. A few guys picked up some huge sheepshead, which is what always happens when taug season starts. I would imagine by Wednesday you will be able to take a boat out. The winds will have died down enough but the water will be dirty most likely. The beaches are going to take some time to recover, they are getting pummeled. Most of them were flattened out from the heavy winds last week, then this Nor’easter hits and finished the job. Water immediately made it to the dune bases. I am honestly worried we might see a breach somewhere in Delaware Seashore State Park along route 1. Hopefully that doesn’t happen but the dunes are taking a beating and water is pushing in very high. Last weeks high winds made surf fishing difficult but some folks were out there catching small bluefish and puppy drum. Hopefully there are still fish here that didn’t get washed inland and become fertilizer. The other concern is they were pushed south by heavy currents driven by winds. Up north in New York the rough weather fishing is producing some nice striped bass. Many are hoping they get pushed this way sooner now.
Last weekend during the heavy winds a father and son did some pond fishing to get out of the winds. “Good evening fellow fisherman. My name is Rob Anen and I just moved to the area from the Allentown area. Surf fishing is a big part of me and my family. Although I was focused on fresh water fishing for a years, but I am excited to get back to surf fishing. Surf fishing goes back years with many fish stories from the Jersey shore from my uncles and cousins sitting in jetties waiting for tight lines. I am so happy to be here and to have the opportunity to enjoy the great waters around me. Looking forward to the fall run. I want to thank you for all of your work that you put into the updates and posts. You are doing a great job and it is appreciated. This past Sunday I wanted to sneak out after football and fish the beach with my son but as you know it was blowing so we decided to wet a line locally in a lake in Lewes…my son Hamilton is 5 and is an avid fisherman…can tie hooks..cast and even reel in a 6 lb catfish by himself…proud fishing dad moment..he was so so excited…this is what this sport is all about..fun and memories.. Hope to meet you on the beach sometime…tight lines … Rob Anen” Now that ladies and gentlemen is what fishing is all about. Glad these boys had some fun despite the conditions.
Well hopefully this all calms down soon and we can get back to a routine of sorts. This storm has certainly thrown off the fall fishing, but it has dropped water temperatures dramatically. Which could chase off a lot of the fish we had here but make it more attractive to that one fish everyone wants to see here. Again, we have to make that lemonade and see what happens. I am posting the tides, buoy data and weather for the next few days below and will continue with that until it is no longer necessary. In the mean time we will keep you updated as much as possible. Big thanks to everyone who sent in pictures and videos today, the amount we received was overwhelming, and is still being sent. Keep that up, you all are helping each other immensely. Many properties that flooded in water front communities were dotted with little islands of houses. Neighbors were coming together to help one another, in some cases despite their differences.
I know a lot of constant posts on Facebook can be annoying, but if we helped one person stay safe and sound, then it was worth it. You can see all the pictures and videos from today on our Facebook page. Route 1 is still closed form Dewey to Fred Hudson road. Have a great end to the weekend, lemonade people … lemonade.
Fish On!!
Rich King
TIDES >>> Indian River Inlet
10/04 | Sun | 02:04 AM | 2.6 H |
10/04 | Sun | 07:41 AM | 0.37 L |
10/04 | Sun | 02:50 PM | 3.15 H |
10/04 | Sun | 08:52 PM | 0.54 L |
10/05 | Mon | 03:10 AM | 2.51 H |
10/05 | Mon | 08:47 AM | 0.52 L |
10/05 | Mon | 03:55 PM | 3.05 H |
10/05 | Mon | 09:58 PM | 0.59 L |
Buoy 4409 Data ….
Weather from the NWS ….
Tonight
A chance of rain or drizzle. Cloudy, with a low around 62. Windy, with a northeast wind 28 to 31 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday
A chance of showers before 2pm, then a chance of rain after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 68. Windy, with a northeast wind around 31 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday Night
A chance of rain, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. Windy, with a northeast wind 18 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Monday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. Breezy, with a northeast wind 18 to 20 mph.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. North wind 10 to 14 mph
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