Delaware spends weekend drying out after soaking rains [photos]

The last the Delaware Department of Transportation gave an order for residents in Kent and Sussex County to stay off the roads, Hurricane Sandy was pounding the state.

Friday’s rains were not from a hurricane, but from a stubborn front that wouldn’t move out to sea. The result was a lot of rain, over 5 inches in some coastal communities, throughout the day.

The National Weather Service in Mt. Holly, N.J. has limited its flood watch for Delaware to the St. Jones River in Dover. The rest of the state along with much of southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and northeast Maryland remain under a hazardous weather outlook for the rest of the weekend. The forecast calls for more humidity and the chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms.

Friday is a day when many tourists start their beach vacations. As they drove down the Coastal Highway, state road 1, they were greeted with scenes that looked like they could have been from last October.

In Bethany Beach, the fire rescue squad was pulling out their surf boards and other water rescue gear to go along with their EMT vehicles. Canoes were a good way to get around along Pennsylvania Avenue in Bethany Beach. Water was only ankle deep, but it came so fast that it was difficult to find drainage.   DelDot reported road damage along Route 54 near Sandy Cover Road near Fenwick. That road has undergone major upgrades over the last 5 years to raise the road level in the area and lessen the risk of flooding.

Umbrellas weren’t much use in Rehoboth and Dewey either. People were hoping that this was just a one day storm and not a payback for the perfect weather they experienced last week during the 4th of July weekend.