Resort officials continued to express relief after Hurricane Isabel passed during the 2 a.m. high tide on Friday, Sept. 19, 2003, with relatively little damage.
Bethany Beach Police Capt. Ralph Mitchell said the 2 a.m. high tide "ended up not being much of anything" because the winds shifted sooner than expected.
Overall, he said, Bethany fared "much, much better than expected. I've seen worse out of northeast storms."
In South Bethany, where no dunes exist to protect oceanfront homes, police said the town was able to reopen Ocean Drive and connecting streets at 11:30 a.m. Friday.
Police said crews were finishing their work on the southern end of Ocean Drive, which experienced only minor debris such as sand, small rocks and vegetation as opposed to the structural damage common during major storms.
Minor flooding on the bay side of town did limit access to some areas by passenger car. Police said the next high tide Friday afternoon may bring more minor flooding on the bay side.
On Thursday, dunes were breached in a number of locations in Bethany Beach, Dewey Beach and Fenwick Island, but no major flooding problems or damage were reported.
Bethany Beach Police Chief Michael Redmon said the ocean breached dunes at Fifth Street, Ocean View Parkway, Campbell Place, Oakwood Street, Ashwood Street and Cedarwood Street. Fenwick Island Town Council President Peter Frederick said the ocean breached the dune at Dagsboro Street and had nearly breached at Farmington Street.
Meanwhile, in South Bethany, where there are no dunes, Mayor Donald Beck said there was water on Ocean Drive, the town's easternmost street, but that the roadway was still holding and no major damage had occurred along the street.
"We've had some overwashing, but everything looks really good," Beck said. South Bethany officials decided to close Ocean Drive at 2 p.m. Thursday "mainly to protect people from themselves," Beck said, adding that spectators were becoming a problem.
Beck said he was pleased so far with the cooperation of the townspeople. "A lot more people evacuated than I thought would." He said about a half-dozen homes on the oceanside were still occupied.
In Fenwick Island, Frederick, who lives on the oceanfront Bunting Avenue, said about five families remained in their beachfront homes.
He said from his vantage point he could see wave of about 15-20 feet breaking about 30 yards offshore at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Those swells were causing extensive beach erosion, Frederick said.
Officials in coastal towns said they will be watching the 2 a.m. high tide closely. "That should be our problem time," said Dewey Beach Mayor Patricia Wright.
The dune at McKinley Street in Dewey Beach was breached during the afternoon, "which we were expecting," Wright said.
Overall, she was pleased that the storm was tracking exactly as forecasters had predicted. "There have been no surprises," Wright said.
Redmon, in Bethany Beach, said at 4 p.m. that the high tide two hours earlier "has not gone back out."
Normally, the tide would have receded quite a bit by that point, but Redmon said, "I'm not seeing much difference. The northeast winds and the swells are driving the surf right into us. It's rolling right under the boardwalk."
In Bethany Beach, sustained winds were 41 mph Thursday afternoon, with gusts up to 54 mph, according to Redmon.
In Lewes, Cpl. Bruce Ritter of the town's police department said flooding was minimal despite high winds and heavy surf on the Delaware Bay. Ritter said all roads in Lewes were "clear and passable" as of 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Resort officials from Fenwick Island to Lewes and inland to Ocean View began preparing for the storm's arrival with meetings on Monday and Tuesday and bridge calls with state officials.
In South Bethany, Beck expressed concerns about the storm on Monday, saying it would be a good test of the town's revetment program, in which large stones were placed under homes along Ocean Drive.
Even with the stones, Beck said Ocean Drive could be in trouble. "We're the victims of bad decisions made 50 years ago," said Beck of the homes built in front of the dune line in his town.
Beck said the town would post updates on conditions in South Bethany on its web site at http://www.southbethany.org.
Beck said visitors staying at many oceanside homes had begun packing up to leave by Tuesday afternoon.
In Fenwick, Frederick said his family had lived in the community since 1953 and that this was the first time the family was boarding up its windows.
He said community block captains had been put on alert to help determine who was in town and who had four-wheel drive vehicles available for possible emergency use.
In addition, Frederick said, Police Chief Colette Sutherland had scheduled two officers to be on duty 24/7 throughout the storm's duration.
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