The City of Wilmington presents flood protection possibilities for Northeast Wilmington over three years after coping with the effects of Hurricane Ida.
In 2021, residents of Northeast Wilmington faced unprecedented flooding from the Brandywine Creek caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, with several homes still facing damages to this day.
Thursday, the city and project partners presented three potential flood intervention methods to be built in case of another serious storm event.
While some community members expressed disappointment over slow-walking the project, the city’s Assistant Water Division Director Bryan Lennon explains gathering data and public feedback is crucial to bring the concept to fruition.
“In order to be competitive with all those communities across the country that are applying for the same funds, we need to establish that we did our homework, that the need is there, that we've met with the community and we've gotten their feedback," he said.
Lennon is referring to grant funding the project needs to be completed. While the project is still in its design phases and a figure is not set in stone, project managers believe it will be a multi-million dollar endeavor.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the City of Wilmington have allocated $500,000 and $167,000 to the study and planning phase of the project, respectively.
The city is proposing three options, a flood wall along the edge of the creek, a mid landscape flood barrier known as a berm or an inland concrete flood wall.

But Project Manager Alex Cartwright, a management consultant at Arcadis, explains nothing is set in stone.
“Various elements of these flood protection pathways can be combined together. So if you see certain things about them that you really like, like kind of how it aligns with a specific part of the neighborhood or the river, we have the opportunity to take all that feedback and combine it into what is the ideal preferred solution.”
The first option, referred to as the Water's Edge Flood Wall, would be visible from the street level and could provide for potential pedestrian or cycling paths along the wall.
It would protect the most existing land uses but would block waterside access — this option also requires the highest flood wall.
The Mid Landscape Berm and Flood Wall raises the ground elevation along an area in between the Brandywine's edge and the H. Fletcher Brown Boys & Girls Club. This option includes the use of terraced berms along the landscape with potential for green areas and community gathering spaces.
This option is would be integrated into the current landscape, allows for waterside access, but would make the land east of Northeast Boulevard unprotected. Project managers also denote this solution as the most competitive option for grant funding and the easiest to be adapted in the case of increasing flood risks.
Finally, the Inland Flood Wall would create a concrete wall along 14th Street. This is the only option that would require flood gates that need to be activated in order to prevent flooding, but would present an opportunity for murals and landscaping.
An inland flood wall leaves the most existing land uses unprotected and some connections with the existing street grid would have to be adapted, but it requires the shortest length and height out of the options.
The project intends to have a final concept design ready by winter or spring and apply for grant funding in late 2025 with a construction timeline yet to be determined.