Post Tropical Storm Sandy caused an initial estimate of $5 million dollars in damage in the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Most of the damages were due to flooding caused by excessive rainfall, as up to 13 inches of rain were reported, and due to the high winds, which caused trees and wires to come down across the state. Delmarva Power, which serves portions of the eastern shore counties, reported over 30,000 households without power during the peak of the storm. The majority of residents had power returned by the morning of the 30th. Hundreds of roads were closed due to numerous downed trees and flooding. | |No direct deaths were reported on the Eastern Shore of Maryland due to the storm.
Tropical Storm Sandy formed in the Caribbean Sea on the 22nd of October. After drifting slowly southwest into the 23rd, Sandy turned to the north and intensified to a hurricane on the 24th just before making landfall in Jamaica during that afternoon. Hurricane Sandy continued to the north and intensified to a strong category two hurricane before making landfall again in Cuba shortly after Midnight EDT on the 25th. Hurricane Sandy emerged on the other side of Cuba during the morning of the 25th and proceeded to drift northwest as a category one or two hurricane as it moved through the Bahamas on the 25th and 26th. Overnight on the 26th, Hurricane Sandy (Category 1) started to move toward the north-northeast, a motion that continued into the evening of the 28th. From there, Sandy’s motion became driven by two factors. An anomalously strong blocking ridge over the Canadian Maritimes prevented Sandy from escaping to the east. Simultaneously, an approaching and deepening middle latitude trough was about to capture Sandy. The combination of the two, turned Sandy to the north overnight on the 28th and then to the northwest on the 29th. Hurricane Sandy received one last jolt of tropical energy as it passed across the Gulf Stream during the morning of the 29th. The lowest recorded central pressure of 940 millibars (27.76 inches) occurred when Category 1 Hurricane Sandy was about 110 miles southeast of Atlantic City at 2 p.m. EDT on the 29th. As Sandy continued to move northwest and interact with the mid latitude trough, its interaction continued to make it less tropical, but did not weaken it much. Sandy continued to make a harder turn to the left (west) and made landfall in Atlantic County as a post tropical storm in Brigantine City just north of Atlantic City at 730 p.m. EDT on the 29th. The estimated minimum central pressure was 945 millibars. The lowest recorded central pressure was 945.6 millibars at the Atlantic City Marina at 734 p.m. EDT. From there, Sandy continued to weaken or fill as it moved west. At 9 p.m. EDT, the low pressure system was in western Atlantic County and continued to move west-northwest. At 11 p.m. EDT, the post tropical storm (about 954 millibars) was located in southern Chester County. Post tropical storm Sandy continued to move west-northwest and weaken. At 2 a.m. EDT on the 30th, the 962 millibar low was located near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and at 8 a.m. EDT the 979 millibar low was near Altoona, Pennsylvania. From there, the rapidly weakening low pressure system moved northwest and reached Lake Erie (993 millibars) at 8 p.m. EDT that evening and from there drifted north into Canada.
Prior to Sandy's arrival, Governor Martin O'Malley declared a State of Emergency for Maryland. No mandatory evacuations were ordered prior to or during the storm on the Eastern Shore. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge was closed due to high winds just before 3 p.m. on the 29th and remained closed through about 9 a.m. on the 30th. The state also closed the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge, where Interstate 95 crosses the Susquehanna River. A swift water rescue teams from South Carolina were on standby throughout the storm and thankfully were not utilized. In addition, several shelters were opened across the state, including three in Cecil County and two each in Kent, Queen Anne's and Caroline Counties.
In the Chesapeake Bay, moderate tidal flooding occurred during the afternoon high tide cycle on the 29th at Cambridge and during the early morning high tide on the 30th at Tolchester Beach. The storm surge was 3 to 3.5 feet. The region was spared higher surges as Sandy made landfall in New Jersey and the winds prior to landfall pushed water down the Chesapeake Bay. Minor tidal flooding also occurred at Tolchester Beach during the subsequent afternoon high tide cycle on the 30th.
Heavy rains fell across the area as Sandy approached and then moved through the region. This made it easier for shallow rooted and leafed trees to be uprooted, it also complicated the tidal flooding. Event rainfall totals ranged from just under 6 inches across the northern areas to up near 13 inches across the southern areas of the Eastern Shore. The steady rain associated with Sandy spread into the Eastern Shore during the day on the 28th and slowly edged north. The heaviest rain fell overnight on the 28th into the early evening of the 29th. The rain ended during the middle of the day on the 30th.
Peak wind gusts included 60 mph in Tolchester Beach (Kent County), 59 mph in Bay City (Queen Anne's County), 55 mph in Royal Oak (Talbot County), 53 mph at the Stevensville Airport (Queen Anne's County), 48 mph at the Easton Airport (Talbot County), 47 mph in Colora (Cecil County) and 41 mph near Jumptown (Caroline County). Strong winds spread northward along the Wastern Shore on the morning of the 29th with the highest winds (from the west) occurring during the evening of the 29th. Winds decreased rapidly during the early morning (shortly after Midnight) on the 30th.