The most destructive storm in Bethany Beach's history, the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, was a surprise nor'easter that struck in March 1962. Created by the combination of what had been two separate storms, the nor'Easter arrived on the evening of March 5, with 80-mile-per-hour (129-kilometer-per-hour) winds and 30-foot (9.1-meter) waves. The storm continued through three high tides while the tides were at their monthly peak before abating on March 7. Destruction was widespread; many of the beachfront structures that had stood since Bethany Beach's early decades were destroyed, including the bowling alley and many of the inns and houses, as were the boardwalk and town pavilion. Only one beachfront house in the southern part of town survived. Flood waters penetrated as far inland as Ocean View, and only three houses anywhere in Bethany Beach escaped flooding. Extensive beach erosion occurred, and sand several feet (over a meter) deep buried streets and cars and filled entire rooms in some houses. Damages along the Delmarva Peninsula's Atlantic coastline exceeded $50 million (USD).
After the storm, the town rebuilt the boardwalk and put new regulations in place requiring that beach houses be built on 30-foot (9.1-meter) pilings.
The 1962 storm had a lasting effect on Bethany Beach. Some longtime residents left Bethany Beach for good, while others noted that much of the old Bethany Beach of the Quiet Years had been destroyed, changing the character of the town forever.
1962-1979
Development of the area resumed after the 1962 storm. A new post office opened in 1965 and the town's first bank in 1966. Construction of Bethany West, a major new development in the western part of Bethany Beach proper, began in 1966-1967. A new town hall and police station opened in 1970.
Plans for a beach and tennis community, Sea Colony, centered around nine high-rise condominiums situated on a private beach between Bethany Beach
