POCOMOKE CITY, Md. - Pocomoke River State Park remains closed after last week’s winter storm knocked down trees throughout the property, damaged the park’s power system and left crews facing what park officials say will be a lengthy recovery process.
Park Manager Marc Heim said staff returning to the park after the storm found roads blocked by fallen trees and had to cut their way back in.
“The storm got us pretty good,” Heim said. “It knocked down trees throughout the park. Coming back in Monday, the roads weren’t even accessible. We had to cut our way back in.”
Once crews were able to get farther into the park, Heim said they discovered the storm had taken down the park’s entire power grid. He said Delmarva Power provides electricity up to the highway, but the park owns the infrastructure beyond that point. That means restoring service will require more than simply waiting for outside power to be turned back on.
Heim said the outage has complicated both cleanup and normal operations. Without power, the park cannot use its fuel pumps, forcing workers to travel to another section of the park at Milburn Landing to fuel equipment such as tractors, chainsaws and wood chippers. Staff have also had to take radios home to charge them because there is no electricity, phone service or internet on site.
The outage has also affected animals housed in the park’s nature center. Heim said reptiles including turtles and snakes had to be relocated temporarily with help from Assateague State Park because the cold weather is unsafe for them without stable indoor conditions. He added that refrigerators and freezers lost power as well, leading to inventory losses in the park store.
Even though crews have made progress clearing roads, Heim said the park is still not safe for visitors. Hanging limbs remain in trees, debris is still scattered throughout the property and some power lines are still obstructed.
“The main reason is just public safety,” Heim said. “We want to keep everyone coming into the park safe, as well as people working within the park safe.”
Before the park can reopen, Heim said crews must continue clearing dangerous limbs and tree damage, repair the park’s electrical infrastructure and have that work approved before power can be restored.
For now, Heim said the working estimate is about a month, though he hopes the park can reopen sooner. Until then, officials are asking the public to stay out while crews work to make the park safe again.