Tropical Storm and Storm Surge in Maryland, September 18 to 19, 2003

Tropical Storm Isabel caused a record breaking tide and storm surge up the Chesapeake Bay, heavy rain and strong power outage producing winds. Isabel made landfall as a hurricane near Drum Inlet, North Carolina around 100 p.m. EDT on the 18th and weakened as it tracked farther inland. At one time in its life cycle, it was a powerful Category 5 hurricane when it was north of the Leewood Islands. Isabel's track took it west of the bay and was able to funnel water into the bay. This caused flooding along coastal areas into Cecil County. A record breaking high tide of 7.91 feet above mean lower low water was observed at Tolchester Beach (Kent County). The surge was 6.88 feet. Tidal flooding problems began after Midnight EDT on the 19th and continued throughout the day on the 19th. The surge was so strong that it negated the normal tide cycle in the bay. Evacuations occurred near the bay. For example, in Kent County emergency management officials evacuated residents along Eastern Neck Road (State Route 455) from Rock Hall to the Eastern Neck Island. Tidal flooding occurred in and around Rock Hall, Chestertown, Skinners Neck, Piney Neck and Cliffs City. Tidal flooding carried inland on the Chester River to Chestertown. Over 100 homes, vehicles and boats were damaged and/or ruined. In addition, eleven marinas, three restaurants, two hotels, two Bed and Breakfast facilities, one boat building business and one marine railway reported major damage. In Queen Anne's County, public and private damage was estimated at 37 million dollars. Thirty-seven homes were destroyed, 151 suffered major damage and 192 suffered minor damage. Most of the damage was caused by the tidal flooding, although four homes were damaged by fallen trees. The heavy rain did not coincide with the tidal flooding and occurred mainly from the afternoon of the 18th into the early morning of the 19th. There were no reports of stream related flooding due to the heavy rain. Because the heaviest rain with tropical systems often falls west of its storm track, the region was spared heavier rain. On the other hand, the strongest winds are often on the right side of the storm track. Winds gusted up to 58 mph in the bay and caused numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines to be knocked down. This was one of the worst power outage events in history for Conectiv Energy. About 65,750 homes and businesses lost power with half of the outages in Cecil County. Overall about 148,000 of the 187,000 of Conectiv Energy's customers lost power. About three-quarters of the power was restored by the 20th and the rest of the 25th.Peak wind gusts included 58 mph in Cambridge (Dorchester County), 55 mph at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport and 44 mph in Tolchester Beach. Storm totals included 3.40 inches in Federalsburg (Caroline County), 3.13 inches in Denton (Caroline County), 2.97 inches in Saint Michaels (Talbot County), 2.14 inches in Stevensville (Queen Anne's County) and 2.03 inches at the Conowingo Dam (Cecil County).