Delaware

Delaware faces severe winter storm. What to do if you have to drive on Monday

Published

1 year ago

January 5, 2025

Delaware faces severe winter storm. What to do if you have to drive on Monday

Delaware is under a winter storm warning starting early Monday morning and the First State is expecting snow levels it hasn’t seen in years.

Despite the snow, there will be people who will still hit the road because of jobs or emergencies.

If you don’t need to be on the road on Monday, stay at home. Snow, at times, will be coming down at a rate of an inch per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The fewer people on the road will make it easier for those whose job it is to clear the roads.

How much snow is Delaware getting?

There’s the potential to see 1 inch per hour, according to the National Weather Service. Here are the snow projections for the state:

New Castle County: 4-8 inches
Kent County: 4-8 inches
Sussex County: 6-10 inches

How to drive in snow

If you have to go out, here are some winter driving tips from AAA:

Reduce speed. Ice and snow decrease your traction with the road so slow down.
Increase following distances. Instead of the traditional two seconds, increase it to five to six seconds. Remember, it takes longer to stop on snowy roads.
Don’t use cruise control.
Keep half a tank of gas in your car.
Keep your phone charged in case of an emergency.
Keep an emergency kit in your car.

⛄ Did you play in the snow? Share your snow photos with Delaware Online

What should be in your emergency kit for winter driving?

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, where they deal with large amounts of snow, your kit should include:

Blankets or sleeping bags
Extra stocking caps, warm socks, gloves/mittens
Flashlight with extra batteries
First-aid kit
Booster cables and windshield brush/scraper
Drinking water and high-calorie, non-perishable food (trail mix, energy/protein bars)
Sand or cat litter to sprinkle around your tires for traction in case you get stuck
Cell phone adapter/charger

What to do if you become stranded?

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation recommends the following:

Stay calm and remain buckled up inside your vehicle. Along with protecting you from the elements, your vehicle offers protection should other vehicles slide out of control.
If possible, call 911 on your cell phone. Be ready to describe your location and situation. Follow any instructions. You may be told to stay where you are until help arrives.
Resist the urge to get out of your vehicle and shovel or push your vehicle free. Overexertion can greatly complicate your situation, and being outside your vehicle exposes you to dangers.
If necessary to stay warm, run your vehicle’s engine for brief periods. Make sure the exhaust system is working properly and not blocked by snow.
Keeping your dome light on during low-light conditions can make it easier for rescue crews to find you.
Remember, the storm will end. You will be found.

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Delaware

MERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach

Published

9 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

MERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach

A dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach on Jan. 8, according to the nonprofit Marine Education Research and Rehabilitation Institute.

The juvenile male was first seen Jan. 6, floating at sea about 2 miles off the Indian River Inlet, a MERR Facebook post said. The bloated 30-foot whale ultimately beached near a private community in the early afternoon of Jan. 8, the post said.

MERR is attempting to coordinate with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to get equipment to move the whale out of the water and onto the beach to perform a necropsy, the post said. Right now, there isn’t enough information to determine a cause of death.

Delaware saw at least three dead whales last year, in the Indian River Bay, at Delaware Seashore State Park and at Pigeon Point. The first two were humpbacks, while the Pigeon Point whale was a fin whale.

A necropsy on the Delaware Seashore whale found blunt force trauma across its back, indicating it may have been struck by a ship, MERR Director Suzanne Thurman said.

Recently, on Jan. 4, a dead fin whale was found on the bow of a ship at the Gloucester Marine Terminal in New Jersey, which is located in the Port of Philadelphia on the Delaware River.

Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Facebook.

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Delaware

Pa. man accused of stealing more than 100 skeletons from Delco cemetery

Published

21 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Pa. man accused of stealing more than 100 skeletons from Delco cemetery

A Pennsylvania man is accused of stealing more than 100 skeletons from a cemetery in Delaware County.

Jonathan Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, is charged with abuse of corpse, criminal mischief, burglary and other related offenses, Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse revealed on Thursday, Jan. 8.

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Between November 2025 and Jan. 6, 2026, 26 mausoleums and underground burial sites had been burglarized or desecrated at Mount Moriah Cemetery, which stretches from Yeadon Borough, Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia, investigators said.

As police investigated the thefts, they caught Gerlach desecrating a monument at the cemetery on Tuesday, Jan. 6, according to officials. Gerlach was taken into custody and investigators executed a search warrant at his home in Ephrata.

During the search, investigators recovered 100 human skeletons from Gerlach’s home as well as eight more human remains inside a storage locker, according to Rouse.

“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life the other night guys,” Rouse said. “This is an unbelievable scene that no one involved – from myself to the detectives to the medical examiners that are now trying to piece together what they are looking at, quite literally – none of them have ever seen anything like this before.”

Rouse said some of the stolen skeletons are hundreds of years old.

“We are trying to figure out exactly what we are looking at,” Rouse said. “We quite simply at this juncture are not able to date and identify all of them.”

Rouse also said some of the skeletons are of infants and children.

“It is truly, in the most literal sense of the word, horrific,” Rouse said. “I grieve for those who are upset by this who are going through it who are trying to figure out if it is in fact their loved one or their child because we found remains that we believe to be months old infants among those that he had collected. Our hearts go out to every family that is impacted by this.”

Sources also told NBC10 the thefts are related to a similar case in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Investigators said they are looking at Gerlach’s online community — including his social media groups and Facebook page — to determine if people were buying, selling, or trading the remains.

Gerlach is currently in custody at the Delaware County Prison after failing to post $1 million bail. Online court records don’t list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

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