DELMARVA. - As the coastal storm closes in on both the Maryland and Delaware coastlines, concerns of coastal erosion and high wind speeds rise.
Saturday saw the early stages of the coastal storm set to hit the Delmarva coast on Sunday.
The Ocean City boardwalk saw light foot traffic early Saturday morning as only those willing to endure the frigid temperatures and wind gusts came out to observe the beach conditions ahead of the coastal storm.
Donna Metheny was one of those willing locals. Metheny says watching the coast evolve as storms approach is an exciting phenomenon.
"Before the storm, actually, it's a little more exciting," said Metheny. "I would say with high tide there's always the concern that the waters obviously going to come up much further and drag sand out with it, also it will put a lot of ice on the beach,"
However, for Hollis Shekiro, she says her concern lies in the risks the cold temperatures could bring to her home.
"No real concerns for me, it would mostly just be the cold temperatures we've been having, like the effects on water and pipes," said Shekiro. "No real concerns for our beaches right now."
Tami Vanveldhuisen had a similar level of concern but did pinpoint the winds as a contributing factor to any impacts this coastal storm may have on the Delmarva coast.
"We'll see what it looks like tomorrow," said Vanveldhuisen. "Not overly concerned, just the wind, and just we're curious what the surf's going to look like when the wind picks up."
By the end of Saturday, conditions across the coast of Maryland and Delaware ramped up. The beaches in front of the Ocean City boardwalk were slowly being eaten away by the waves.
Some businesses along the boardwalk had sandbags in place at the doorsteps of the shops. Not too far from those shops were barriers that separated the beaches from the boardwalk itself.Â
Down Route 1 in Fenwick Island, CoastTV spoke with a local surfer, Alex Siegel, who doesn't take anything away from the power of erosion.
"Heavy winds, what seems to be north, northeast, so that always takes beating on the beach line, the beaches. The dunes up here are pretty solid; they've been through a lot," said Siegel.
The beaches of Fenwick Island had not seen the same level of erosion by the end of the day on Saturday, but the ocean was unsettled.Â
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