Buying out threatened oceanfront homes is not a crazy idea – Coastal Review

Collapsed house in Rodanthe on evening of Feb. 9, 2022 (courtesy National Park Service, public domain via Flickr).

The oceanfront shoreline of Rodanthe has one of the highest erosion rates on the U.S. East Coast (recently upwards of 20 feet per year). Many homes that were initially constructed well back from the beach are now at risk of constant flooding and imminent collapse. A typical response to this erosion in Dare County (and most coastal communities) would be the implementation of a beach nourishment project. It is unclear whether this is practical for Rodanthe, as the geologic setting is problematic…

To Save America’s Coasts, Don’t Always Rebuild Them – New York Times

Aftermath of Hurricane Ian, September 28, 2022 (by Florida Fish and Wildlife CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr)

Federal and state taxpayers have spent billions of dollars over the past four decades pumping up beaches in front of coastal properties in what are known as beach nourishment projects. In Florida alone, almost $3 billion in public funds has been spent just to keep beaches in front of investment homes and oceanfront infrastructure…

The Beach Boondoggle; Op Ed by Robert Young

Hurricane Matthew was not a megadisaster like Superstorm Sandy or Hurricane Katrina, but if precedent holds, simply rebuilding the beaches may cost federal taxpayers billions of dollars.

Rebuilding the Coastline, But at What Cost?

Nearly seven months after Hurricane Sandy decimated the northeastern coastline, destroying houses and infrastructure and dumping 11 billion gallons of untreated and partially treated sewage into rivers, bays, canals and even some streets, coastal communities have been racing against the clock to prepare for Memorial Day.