Rip Current in Delaware, August 23 to 29, 1998

Rip currents and large waves associated with Hurricane Bonnie killed one swimmer at Rehoboth Beach and resulted in swimming restrictions up and down the Delaware Coast through the full week of August 23rd. Bonnie made her closest pass to Delaware (at tropical storm force strength) during the afternoon of the 28th when she passed about 130 miles east of Indian River Inlet. Larger waves and rip currents started on the 23rd. One rogue wave caught four unsuspecting swimmers in a rip tide about 430 p.m. EDT at Rehoboth Beach. Lifeguards saved three swimmers, but the fourth one, a 24-year-old male drowned. His body was found one hour later. It was the first drowning in front of lifeguards at Rehoboth Beach since 1941. The next day, ten additional swimmers were rescued. A wind surfer was rescued the night of the 25th. As the week wore on, bathing restrictions increased. On the 26th the beach at Fenwick Island was closed. The United States Coast Guard that day also issued a warning for boaters and personal watercraft users to stay out of the ocean. By the 28th (the closest pass by Bonnie) beaches were also closed at Cape Henlopen State Park. Some minor beach erosion occurred because of Bonnie, but coastal Delaware received only fringe effects from the tropical system on the 28th. The strongest wind gusts were mainly between 30 and 40 mph. The highest wind gust at the Delaware Bay Buoy was 46 mph. Rainfall amounts in Sussex County were generally around one inch. Greenwood had one of the higher storm totals at 1.77 inches. Tidal departures were only between 1.0 and 1.5 feet above normal and were below the thresholds for even minor tidal flooding. The most lasting effects of Bonnie were the rough surf, larger waves and rip currents. According to researchers on the subject of rip currents, rip currents and the sandbars that cause them are always present. Rip currents also form near rock piles, jetties and fishing piers. The theory states conditions get exacerbated (and the rip currents become stronger) when larger than average waves combine with stronger than normal onshore winds. The steady winds pile the water onto the beach longer than usual, building or enlarging the offshore sandbars. Eventually the excess water cuts a channel in the sandbar and/or moves quickly through a pre-existing one and races back to sea through this break. The northeasters of the previous winter were believed to have created a larger than usual number of offshore sandbars.