Fierce Storm Lashes Atlantic Resort Towns

A powerful Atlantic storm with winds of up to 70 m.p.h. pummeled resort towns in Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey on Saturday, forcing evacuations, damaging buildings and toppling utility lines.

“It’s a potentially very dangerous situation. The boardwalks are unsafe right now. There are power lines down. There is storm and sewer overflow,” said Delaware Gov. Michael N. Castle, who toured the area.

Rehoboth Beach officials declared a state of emergency and Castle called in the National Guard to help highway crews at roadblocks and keep people out of dangerous areas.

The worst of the storm hit the Maryland coast about 7 a.m. No injuries were reported. Flooding was reported in the Ocean City area of Maryland.

In New Jersey, heavy surf lashed beaches left vulnerable by last year’s costly Halloween storm. The high tide of 7.8 feet about 7 a.m. did not reach the heights of the fall storm, when waters rose to a near-record 9.02 feet.

In Ocean City, N.J., 68 m.p.h. gusts whipped the sea and ripped at what remains of the boardwalk after October’s tempest.

Tom Paul, 33, and his wife, Maureen, 30, watched a 30-foot section of the walkway drop onto their storm-ravaged front lawn.

“The waves were just crashing under the boardwalk and exploding into the air and lifted the entire boardwalk right up,” Tom Paul said.

Water surged under the Atlantic City Boardwalk in places, turning streets into murky canals.

About 80 people took refuge in emergency shelters in Atlantic and Cape May counties Saturday afternoon and officials expected that number to rise by nightfall.

The Department of Environmental Protection and Energy closed down shellfish beds, fearing debris washed into the water might contaminate the harvest.

In North Carolina, parts of Pea Island and Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks were flooded by waves. Stretches of the main road along the Outer Banks were under two feet of water. A 10-mile stretch of the road was closed from Rodanthe to Oregon Inlet.