Town, county and seashore crews race to reopen beach at Assateague

After Hurricane Erin churned offshore, the beach at Assateague remains closed.  Crews are still cleaning up the damage it left behind.

The storm never made landfall, but its powerful surge flooded roads, beaches and parking lots. Officials say Virginia took the hardest hit with Assateague Beach losing its main parking lot. Bulldozers are now working to relocate sand and crews are  rebuilding fences in a race to reopen before Labor Day.

Superintendent Hugh Hawthorne says visitors should expect limited parking, maybe half to three-quarters of the lot ready by the holiday weekend. The National Park Service is getting help from Chincoteague and Accomack County crews working long hours to meet that deadline.

In Maryland, most beaches have already reopened. Hawthorne is encouraging beachgoers to head north until Chincoteague is ready. Longer term, Virginia’s beach operations will move two miles north to a more stable site — but that project is still more than two years away.

For now, workers hope to create enough parking space for one of the busiest weekends of the summer.