High winds, ‘sting jet’ cause havoc during Tropic Storm Isaias

(Aug. 4, 2020) It was a wild, windy day in Ocean Pines because of Tropical Storm Isaias, with dozens of trees falling all over the community and Police and Public Works crews working throughout the morning and afternoon to keep up.  

Only about an inch of rain fell in the community and it seemed the worst had passed by around 10 a.m., when a “sting jet” manifested and caused havoc with high, damaging winds.  

According to the Washington Post, a “sting jet forms in rapidly deepening low-pressure systems when a band of precipitation wraps back along a cold conveyor belt in a region of exceptional wind energy … When it occurs, very fast winds from the mid-levels of the atmosphere can descend to ground-level.” 

The name comes from the shape, which resembles the stinging tail of a scorpion. 

“We thought the worst of the storm had passed us early on, but the wind picked back up and that caused lots of downed trees,” General Manager John Viola said. “The biggest thing is there were no injuries that we know of. Ocean Pines Police and Public Works did an excellent job today and there was a lot of work to be done.” 

Police Chief Leo Ehrisman said his crew worked steadily from about 5 a.m. until late in the afternoon. Police received more than 30 calls for service during the storm.  

“We got the rain [early] and the rain had practically stopped before we got wind damage. But there are trees down everywhere,” he said. “Some of the big trees by the south gate pond are overturned and the area is completely roped off.” 

Ehrisman compared the impact in Ocean Pines to that of a heavy snowstorm. 

“All of our calls were trees that blew down,” he said. “We had several trees down into houses and several across roads. I couldn’t even guess how many.” 

Ehrisman said some of Ocean Pines’ wooded park areas looked like a battleground. He said several trees fell in White Horse Park and Public Works even had to pull one off of the temporary police building, so police could get through the front door.  

“It looks like somebody just came in and clipped the tops of all the trees,” he said. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, much of White Horse Park was roped off with caution tape. 

Elsewhere in the community, Ehrisman said one 22-24-foot boat came off a dock lift, went into the water, banged into the bulkhead and sunk. Another person went overboard trying to bail out their boat and had to be rescued. However, no injuries were reported to Ocean Pines Police. 

Ehrisman said a tree on White Horse Drive came through the roof of one home and ruptured gas lines, and the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department were called to assist. Another home, on Moonraker Road, had a tree crash through a skylight.  

“All roads are now open, but there's a lot of debris left on the roads,” Ehrisman said. “We ask that everyone use caution while driving, especially at nighttime. There's still the chance of a tree coming down that we're not aware of and there's quite a bit of debris on the back roads.” 

Public Works Director Eddie Wells said he’s never seen anything like Isaias in his nearly two-decade career in Ocean Pines. He said Public Works received several hundred calls throughout the day. 

“It’s been nonstop,” he said. “As soon as you think you’re done, you get another email or phone call about a downed tree. 

“I’ve never seen it this bad, with the wind damage,” he continued. “We’ve had hurricanes go through and you might have 15-20 trees that go down, but this was just relentless for so long.” 

Wells said the sting jet caused the majority of the damage. 

“That’s what hurt. We were doing really well up until that point but, when that hit us, we really got some high winds out of that,” he said. “That scorpion tail, that back wind that we had, it just lasted so long and it was real hectic for a while. We’ll probably be cleaning up branches for the rest of this week.” 

According to Wells, about 9/10 of an inch of rain fell during the day. He said no injuries were reported to Public Works.  

“We had quite a few trees go down and hit houses, but I haven’t heard of any injuries,” he said. “All the roads are open and passable now. I can’t tell you how many trees were down, but we got them all off the road.” 

Viola said there was some minor damage to the east side of the Yacht Club roof, but no other damage to Ocean Pines property.  

“We hope that everyone stayed safe and that flooding and other damage to homes was minimal,” he said. “Hurricane season typically runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, so the chances for another storm are high. Ocean Pines advises homeowners to continue to watch trusted sources, like the National Weather Service and MEMA, for the latest news and information about this and future tropical storms and hurricanes. We will continue to share that information on oceanpines.org and on Ocean Pines social media.” 

For non-emergencies, call the Ocean Pines Police Department at 410-641-7747. In case of an emergency, call 911.