BETHANY BEACH, Del.- When it comes to beaches and sand erosion, Tony Pratt, from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, is the go-to guy in the state. On Wednesday he joined WBOC for a tour along the coastline, to assess the erosion, caused by this weekend's nor'easter.
The tour started just south of the Indian River Inlet Bridge, where Pratt said the high tide line had been pushed back by at least 100 feet. Throughout the coastal area, Pratt said that this erosion level was evident, reaching as far of a displacement as 125 feet.
"I just worry about what the rest of the years going to look like," Pratt said. "As other storms come through."
The next stop on the tour was Bethany Beach. Pratt said that this area and South Bethany were the most impacted areas of all the coastal communities. Pratt said that this was because Bethany Beach, had far less dry beach than their neighbors to the north, which allowed for more dune damage. Before the storm hit, Pratt estimated that Bethany Beach had approximately 100 feet of dry beach in front of the dunes, while Rehoboth Beach had as much as 150 feet.
"It's pretty significant," Pratt said. "It's pretty dramatic. I think we have as much as six to eight feet of vertical loss. And even as much as 10 feet."
Pratt emphasized that there is a key difference between the displacement of sand, and the removal of sand. He said that the sand was likely pushed back to the sand bar, which would mean that a great deal of it would return to the beach area, within the next few weeks or months. For that reason, he said it would be difficult to see just how much sand has been lost, until later in the season.
"It's a wait and see," he said. "I keep my fingers crossed. But I don't like it when I see the pattern set up like we have over the last few weeks."
Pratt said that replenishment will be needed, throughout the coastal areas, but he said it would not necessarily be more than was originally planned. Both the Rehoboth-Dewey area and the Bethany-South Bethany area are on three-year replenishment cycles.
The Rehoboth area is up next, with a replenishment planned for the spring of 2016.
The Bethany area is scheduled to have replenishment in the spring of 2017.
