Beach Erosion--Can it be fixed?

Don't know if you own a home or property that's beach front but let me tell you as a home owner on the beach, conservative is not what I need. My home, along with many others, is in danger. To appreciate panicky, you may need to experience your home dangling from the edge of a cliff.

Don't know if you own a home or property that's beach front but let me tell you as a home owner on the beach, conservative is not what I need. My home, along with many others, is in danger. To appreciate panicky, you may need to experience your home dangling from the edge of a cliff.

Ooops, didn't mean that. I distinguish the situation of the homes damaged issue from the "what to do in the future" issue. The former issue is critical and demands all of the county's immediate attention, in my view. It's the latter issue I was talking about not rushing to conclusions on.

I'm not an engineer nor a scientist but it seems to me that some radical and aggressive measures need to be taken as far as repairing and getting the foundations restored and safe for the gulf front properties. Then in parallel, they need to come up with a short term "fix" for the protection line near what was the dune line (obviously there is no quick fix or one that is not natural that will work) and then they need to plan and undertake a long term approach that will aid mother nature in restoring the dunes over time.

As has been said by others, there is no method that is going to work short or long term like mother nature. However, something needs to be done to get these structures safe and sound asap.

I too am sorry for anyone that has lost a home or is gulf front and has a foundation issue. I hope they make some good decisions for the long and the short term.

Don't know if you own a home or property that's beach front but let me tell you as a home owner on the beach, conservative is not what I need. My home, along with many others, is in danger. To appreciate panicky, you may need to experience your home dangling from the edge of a cliff.

I think all gulf front owners who are in extremis, should be helped now! It's the overall gameplan that should be conservative, because of the obvious. These storms are utterly unstoppable.

Do any of you know what they did to restore the beaches at Sea Island, Georgia? For years it was necessary to walk down stairs to get from ground level to the beach level. Then at some point the beach level was almost at ground level. Someone told us that they filled in the beach with rocks, etc., covered it over with concrete, then covered the concrete with sand - sort of like a sand-covered parking lot. The sand is so hot that they need soaker hoses to prevent people from burning the bottoms of their feet.

Also, do any of you know about the beach restoration history at Fripp? The last time I was there, they had huge rocks instead of dunes (looked awful) with long staircases. There was very little beach, and we had to time our beach walks with the tides because at high tide, the beach totally disappeared. I've known people who got stranded a distance from where they were staying because they had to take the first available stairwell since the Atlantic gets so rough at high tide. My husband almost ended up in that situation. In trying to get back to the walkover for the area where we were staying, the waves literally ripped the watch off his arm. I've heard from a friend who has been to Debidue that it's the same situation there.

These were both beach restorations that attempted to fix the erosion, but if we followed one of these paths, the character of the Panhandle beaches as we once knew them would be gone (actually it might already be gone). Maybe there's a better way to fix the erosion using today's technology .. that is, if it is decided that it should be fixed. I'd hate to be the ones making the decision - with all of the diverse opinions that I've read, no matter what they decide, someone will be angry. I sympathize with the property owners whose property is falling into the Gulf - what a nightmare!

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, through consultation with other state and federal agencies, has granted Walton County permission to perform beach scraping along all 26 miles of Walton County beaches.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, through consultation with other state and federal agencies, has granted Walton County permission to perform beach scraping along all 26 miles of Walton County beaches.

FYI

Beach Scraping
Beach scraping (i.e., grading and bulldozing) is the process of reshaping beach and dune landforms with heavy machinery. Usually a layer of sand from the lower beach is moved to the upper beach. Beach scraping creates dunes, which are used to give property owners some security from beach erosion, severe storms, and winter washover events. During the summers, the created sandbanks may be bulldozed flat, providing water views to property owners. However, the effects of beach scraping on coastal environments are little known, and this procedure may be harmful to coastal biota and habitats. Proponents claim that beach scraping is a time and cost-effective method to ensure shoreline protection, while opponents state that this method may be the most ecologically destructive form of coastal manipulation to date.

This information was from an interesting web site about beach nourishment - http://www2.nature.nps.gov/views/KCs/CoastalG/HTML/ET_Processes.htm

FYI

Beach Scraping
Beach scraping (i.e., grading and bulldozing) is the process of reshaping beach and dune landforms with heavy machinery. Usually a layer of sand from the lower beach is moved to the upper beach. Beach scraping creates dunes, which are used to give property owners some security from beach erosion, severe storms, and winter washover events. During the summers, the created sandbanks may be bulldozed flat, providing water views to property owners. However, the effects of beach scraping on coastal environments are little known, and this procedure may be harmful to coastal biota and habitats. Proponents claim that beach scraping is a time and cost-effective method to ensure shoreline protection, while opponents state that this method may be the most ecologically destructive form of coastal manipulation to date.

This information was from an interesting web site about beach nourishment - http://www2.nature.nps.gov/views/KCs/CoastalG/HTML/ET_Processes.htm

I can see both sides of this coin. It seems to me the only way to provide immediate protection to the ravaged dunes and to save property that can be saved. But, from what I saw from the previous project, it messed something fierce with the beach's own ability to regulate itself. High tides were bizarre, the shoreline looked queer, natural sand accretion (or whatever it is called) seemed impaired. After Arlene, things seemed to iron themselves out and some normality seemed to resume. OTOH, don't know squat about this stuff.

Hope this isn't one of those "We had to kill the beach to save the beach" scenarios.