Sussex County News

The Edison Electric Institute, the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies, offered the following tips for local residents ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy and the anticipated related power outages:

If a severe storm is approaching:
Visit your local electric company’s Web site for the latest updates and guidance on how to prepare for storms.

High water across Route 1 north of Indian River Inlet Bridge has forced Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) to begin the process of closing Route 1 between Dewey & Bethany Beach. Please share with others who may be affected.

Gov. Jack Markell has issued a limited state of emergency and a mandatory evacuation order for flood-prone area within .75 miles of Sussex County’s coastline and major waterways, effective at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, as Hurricane Sandy continues to threaten the Mid-Atlantic region with strong winds, severe tidal flooding and torrential rains that could span Sunday to Tuesday.

Beebe Medical Center has announced Hurricane Sandy-related cancellations, including:
• All elective surgery and elective cardiac catheterizations scheduled for Monday, Oct. 29, will be canceled.
• All Beebe satellite locations, including the Beebe Health Campus and departments that operate Monday-through-Friday schedules, will be closed on Monday, Oct. 29, as well.

Gov. Jack Markell announced at 5 p.m. on Saturday that Delaware was entering a limited state of emergency to facilitate an evacuation over a 24-hour period. Beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday night, communities within .75 miles of the coast in Sussex and Kent counties, as well as flood areas in western Sussex County, should evacuate their homes.

A coastal flood watch has been issued for Sussex County, including the beach areas, running through at least Monday afternoon. According to the National Weather Service, the evolution of Hurricane Sandy into a powerful storm currently predicted to cross the New Jersey coast Monday evening will mean at least two tide cycles of potentially moderate to major flooding.

The Delaware state climatologist and DEMA held a “bridge call” with municipal officials on Friday evening, in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. Officials said that the latest storm track had Sandy making landfall on the Delaware coastline around Cape Henlopen, likely sometime early Tuesday morning.

As of Friday evening, Hurricane Sandy was on track to directly hit Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic in the days ahead, based on forecasts, threatening to lash the region with up to two days’ worth of hurricane-force winds, a 10-foot-high combined surge and tide, and torrential rains that could measure as much as a foot deep in some places.

Take Saturday to prepare, advised Gov. Jack Markell, in light of expected high winds and heavy rain from Hurricane Sandy from Sunday through the early part of next week.

“It is forecasted to be a long-lasting event,” he said on Friday, noting that rain, wind and flooding likely. “The duration is what we are most concerned about.”

UPDATED Sunday, Oct. 28, 11:30 a.m.
Cancellations due to Hurricane Sandy include the following:

Both the Indian River School District and Sussex Technical School District have closed schools and offices on Monday, Oct. 29, and Tuesday, Oct. 31.

All University of Delaware classes are suspended Monday, Oct. 29, and officials were strongly encouraging students to go home.

Delaware Senate District 20 candidate Rick Eakle (D) on Friday asked his fellow Sussex County candidates in the Nov. 6 elections to put aside their political differences ahead of the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Sandy and gather to plan together ways they can help coastal residents weather the storm.

State and local emergency officials are urging residents of coastal Delaware to be alert and prepare as Hurricane Sandy tracks up the Atlantic in the coming days and poses a risk of potential severe weather, up to and including possibly making landfall in the immediate area.

The 19th annual Today & Tomorrow Conference will be held this coming Wednesday, Oct. 31, from 7:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Carter Partnership Center at Delaware Technical Community College in Georgetown.

The Sussex County Grand Jury on Monday indicted Georgetown resident Eric Bodenweiser, 53, on multiple sex crimes charges following a criminal investigation conducted by the Delaware State Police. The Oct. 22 indictment consisted of 113 total counts, including 39 counts of Unlawful Sexual Intercourse First Degree and 74 counts of Unlawful Sexual Contact Second Degree.

The Sussex County Council introduced an ordinance this week that could give active military personnel a break on fees for marriages and civil unions in the county.

Sussex County Council heard this week from representatives of The Way Home of Georgetown, an organization that assists men and women who are leaving prison and have nowhere else to turn.

The Sussex County Council voted this week to allow the county engineering department to prepare and post notices for the proposed expansion of the Millville Sanitary Sewer District to include an additional 82 parcels located along Route 26 that are contiguous to the existing sewer district.

The Sussex County Council voted this week to allow the county engineering department to prepare and post notices for the proposed expansion of the Millville Sanitary Sewer District to include an additional 82 parcels located along Route 26 that are contiguous to the existing sewer district.

Beebe Medical Center representatives on Monday afternoon notified the public that visitor IDs were being checked after a former patient allegedly threatened two physicians affiliated with the hospital through a telephone message that was left sometime during the weekend and received on Monday morning.

No decision has been made yet on the proposed rezoning for the Castaways Bethany project, as the county council deferred action this week while waiting for a recommendation from Sussex County Planning & Zoning commissioners.

The Sussex County Council this week kicked off their biennial Election Year Scholarship Contest for local students.

Sussex County Council on Tuesday approved a conditional use for Delaware Electric Cooperative to build a solar farm on 40 acres near Georgetown. They approved it with a condition that, during the final site-plan phase before Sussex County Planning & Zoning, they will be required to include a “screen” of landscaping from neighboring properties.

At their meeting on Sept. 11, Sussex County Council members approved an agreement with litigants that will allow the council to say a prayer at the beginning of each meeting. A lawsuit filed in June of 2011 had contended that the council’s recital of the “Lord’s Prayer” before meetings violated the establishment clause of the United States Constitution, as well as the Delaware Constitution’s corresponding provision.

Last week, the Delaware State Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the appeal by former Lewes pediatrician Earl Bradley of his conviction on charges he abused young patients was without merit.

A week after Sussex County Planning & Zoning commissioners recommended approval for a conditional use for Delaware Electric Co-Op to build a solar farm near Georgetown, the county council, which has the final say on such hearings, deferred action so they can view the site themselves.