DEWEY BEACH, Del. - Today, at the Dewey Beach Life Saving Station, the Association of Coastal Towns (ACT) held their end of summer meeting. Mayors for the coastal towns make up ACT, and their main focus for this year is battling climate change.
Climate change factors like, rising sea levels, are negatively affecting neighborhoods on the the bay. Dewey Beach mayor, Bill Stevens, is worried about the future of the beach and the town. He explained to CoastTV that the rising tides have ruined a lot of the work the town has done with beach replenishment over the past few years.
Phil Winkler not only lives on the bay, but also at the lowest point above sea level. Winkler explained that his neighborhood has flooded every day for the past month and a half. Winkler is very frustrated about the frequent flooding because the repairs have been expensive.
"I have had over $12,000 dollars in damages," stated Winkler.
ACT has allowed for towns to pass drainage ordinances, aimed at reducing flooding. The next step for ACT is to create a climate change protection plan that has more concrete steps to protect property and the environment. The plan also has to abide by all town codes.
At the end of the ACT meeting today, town officials came to the conclusion that they are going to ask the state for help with the climate change protection plan.
