While the Storm of 1962 remains the storm of record for Delaware, many events prior to that year and after it have caused significant problems for coastal residents.
Notable storms, gathered from experts and newspaper reports, include:
- A hurricane in October 1878 brought a record occurrence of flooding for the middle and upper Delaware Bay. During the category 1 hurricane, at Little Creek, the water was 10.4 feet above mean sea level — 4 feet above predicted high tide.
- A hurricane on Sept. 15, 1903, affected the lower part of the Delaware Bay, causing flooding and damages in Lewes and along the Atlantic Coast. Five seamen aboard a schooner died when the vessel shipwrecked in the storm.
- The 1933 Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane was an August storm that caused a 7- to 9-foot storm surge for the Delaware Bay. A Delaware Coastal Management Program report said the 24-hour storm flooded the National Guard Camp at Bethany Beach, the Henlopen and Belhaven hotels in Rehoboth and areas between Lewes and Rehoboth. Saltwater flooding inland destroyed crops between Kitts Hummock and Lewes.
- On Sept. 18, 1936, a hurricane caused eight sailors aboard the steamer Long Island to drown when their vessel went down off the Delaware Bay. Crop damage was also reported.
- On Sept. 14-15, 1944, a hurricane caused two fatalities in Delaware from people who suffered heart attacks trying to secure property and pushing the 254-foot SS Thomas Tracey onto the beach at Brooklyn Avenue in Rehoboth. Crops were damaged, the boardwalks in Bethany and Rehoboth were destroyed and a barge in the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal sank. In Lewes, residents of homes along the beach were evacuated because of flooding.
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- On Oct. 15, 1954, Hurricane Hazel brought severe damage to Delaware. Six people died, including two who were trying to secure boats along the Delaware Bay.
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