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2008 PSDS Editorials

Who should pay for shorelines forever at risk for storms?

Asheville Citizen-Times

By Rob Young and Andy Coburn

Published: November 23, 2008

Hurricane Ike caused extensive damage along the Texas coast, yet it was only a Category 2 storm (on the Saffir-Simpson scale) and the storm surge was only around 12 feet. In contrast, the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina exceeded 30 feet in some locations.

Our Katrina cometh

Raleigh News & Observer
By Andrew Coburn
Published: October 24, 2008

When I flew over the Mississippi coast four days after Hurricane Katrina, I was shocked by the totality of the damage. Block after block of buildings had been wiped clean, their existence marked only by splintered pilings and bare concrete pads. After the flight, I remember wondering whether I'd ever see such complete devastation again. Less than three years later, as I flew over the Texas coast, I got my answer.

Stafford Act reform: Should taxpayers continue to rebuild coastal infrastructures?

The Clarion-Ledger
By Rob Young
Published: October 12, 2008

Hurricane Ike has caused extensive damage along the Texas coast, yet it was only a Category 2 storm (on the Saffir-Simpson scale) and the storm surge was only around 12 feet. In contrast, the storm surge from hurricane Katrina exceeded 30 feet in some locations. Why was the damage from Ike so extensive? Many of the barrier islands that Ike flattened were predictably vulnerable. The Bolivar Peninsula, with its extremely low elevation, was a disaster waiting to happen.

Flood. Rebuild. Repeat

USA Today
By Rob Young and Orrin H. Pilkey
Published: September 23, 2008

During moments like these, the country understandably feels sympathy for those who have lost property in the wake of Hurricane Ike. But there is an important question that should be raised while the nation's attention is once again focused on billions of dollars in damage.

Sandbag seawalls do more harm than good

By Andrew Coburn and Rob Young
Asheville Citizen-Times
Published: June 13, 2008
Topsail Voice, Carteret News-Times, Tideland News
Published: June 12, 2008

It is time for the sandbags to go. The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission has denied an appeal by oceanfront property owners requesting an indefinite postponement of plans for removal of sandbag seawalls protecting mostly vacation and second homes.

Holding the line on terminal groins

Raleigh News & Observer
By Andrew Coburn and Orrin Pilkey
Published: June 2, 2008

Advocates for Inlet Solutions, an organization of wealthy Figure 8 Island property owners lobbying to change state law and build a terminal groin, believes a terminal groin will not only protect the beach from erosion, but that it will do so without any environmental impacts...

Prepared for Hurricanes? Missouri flood lessons for Florida

Orlando Sentinel
By Rob Young and David Bush
Published: April 2, 2008

The first day of spring is just behind us. The sun has moved slightly north of the equator on its march toward the Tropic of Cancer. The Northern Hemisphere will receive a little more solar energy today than it did yesterday, and a little more tomorrow than today. As the months pass, sea surface temperature rises with the summer heating, and the ocean stores energy to generate hurricanes.

Renamed jetty threatens shore

Raleigh News & Observer
By Andrew Coburn and Orrin Pilkey
Published: March 13, 2008

Rich Inlet, just north of Figure 8 Island, is one of North Carolina's vanishing coastal gems. It is full of sand shoals and shorebird habitat. The north end of Figure 8 Island, adjacent to the inlet, has a beautiful 3-4 acre wetland and rolling dunes. There are thick overwash sand deposits, prime habitat for endangered shorebirds. Boaters know it as one of the most stable and beautiful inlets in North Carolina. But what makes Rich Inlet so special is that it is one of the few...

A bleak future for saltwater marshes

Orlando Sentinel
By Rob Young
Published: Feb 24, 2008

Senate bill would allow state dollars to go to gated beach enclaves

Charleston Post and Courier
By Rob Young and Andrew Coburn
Published: January 23, 2008

Once again, coastal legislators are trying to get taxpayer funding to support risky coastal development. Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, and Sen. J. Yancey McGill, D-Kingstree, are co-sponsoring Senate Bill 904, a measure that they apparently hope will allow the use of public money to pay for future beach nourishment within private, gated coastal communities like Wilds Dunes at the north end of Isle of Palms...

2008 PSDS in the News

Time to run before the storm
New Scientist
By Jeff Hecht
Published: November 26, 2008

Galveston will sigh with relief at the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season on 30 November, but it may never fully recover from September's hurricane Ike. Perhaps it shouldn't try.

North Carolina Puts Islanders on Notice: Toss Sandbags
New York Times
By Gareth McGrath
Published: November 2, 2008

A fair shot to save his property. That is all Michael Hobbs says he is requesting. His oceanfront home is one of nearly 20 near the north end of this private island that rely on sandbags to hold back the Atlantic.

Figure Eight owners want to keep their sandbags
Wilmington Star News
By Gareth McGrath
Published: October 30, 2008

A fair shot to save his property. That’s all Michael Hobbs is asking. His oceanfront home on this private island is one of nearly 20 near the north end that rely on sandbags to hold back the encroaching Atlantic.

WCU Shoreline program opens coastal station in SC
Asheville Citizen-Times
Published: October 30, 2008

Two years after relocating to Western Carolina University from its longtime home at Duke University, a program known worldwide for its use of science to influence public policy affecting management of U.S. shorelines is establishing a permanent beachhead in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.

Coastal wetlands may not impede hurricane storm surges
New Scientist
By Devin Powell
Published: October 14, 2008

The long-held belief that coastal wetlands help protect communities from flooding during hurricanes has been called into question, casting doubt on one of the benefits of restoring wetlands.

Coastal rebuilding awash in debate
USA Today
By Rick Jervis
Published: October 9, 2008

It's late afternoon in this Gulf Coast community and the Mockingbird Café is abuzz: Businessmen nurse pints of local beer, a group of middle-school-age girls huddle around their homework, latte-drinkers peck at laptops. Barely a hint anywhere of the 30-foot storm surge and raging winds of Hurricane Katrina three years ago that shredded shops in the downtown area, tore up streets and decimated homes. Gustav and Ike last month again flooded homes and ravaged local beaches.

Will rebuilt wetlands save us? Or is it time to move?
Houma Today
Thibodaux Daily Comet
By Nikki Buskey
Published: October 6, 2008

Isidore and Lili, Katrina and Rita, Gustav and Ike. As each pair of storms brought unexpected flooding to portions of Terrebonne and Lafourche, officials renewed their calls to restore the wetlands that once buffered their coastlines against storm surge.

Wetlands restoration: A false hope?
UPI
Published: October 1, 2008

A U.S. scientist says Louisiana Coastal residents counting on wetlands restoration to protect storm buffeted infrastructure are waging a losing battle.

Wetlands Restoration Not A Panacea For Louisiana Coast
Science Daily
Published: September 30, 2008
Huliq News
Published: September 27, 2008
e-Science News
Published: September 26, 2008

Counting on wetlands restoration projects to protect storm buffeted infrastructure along the Louisiana Coast is likely to be a “losing battle” that provides “false hope” and prevents endangered communities from clearly planning for their future, says a researcher from Western Carolina University (WCU).

More stalls for cars than beach for people?
Pensacola News Journal
Published: September 27, 2008

Mother Nature keeps escalating the invoices we forward to Uncle Sam from the Gulf Coast, all coasts, billions of payout in tax dollars after angry winds and stormy seas punish our foolish mistakes. Talk about a mini-Wall Street bailout cast on fragile sand.

Ike renews debate over coastal development
Houston Chronicle
By Matthew Tresaugue
Published: September 22, 2008

There is no community of Gilchrist, at least for now. The Bolivar Peninsula hamlet exists only on maps after the storm surge of Hurricane Ike all but erased it. Beachside cottages on stilts are gone, the roads impassable.

After Ike, to rebuild or not?
Christian Science Monitor
By Patrik Jonsson
Published: September 17, 2008

Wrecked sailboats and shrimpers litter Galveston Bridge. Pilings from 30 blown-away beach homes stick out of the water, the beach gone. The historic haunts where Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack once congregated – disintegrated by hurricane Ike.

Beating Back the Ocean Proves an Enduring Riddle
Wall Street Journal
By Alyssa Abkowitz
Published: September 12, 2008

Lisa Schaeffer spent last Saturday afternoon cleaning up after Tropical Storm Hanna. Her 44-year-old white cottage stood intact -- five yards from the sea.

When storms batter islands, taxpayers pick up tab
USA Today
By Russ Bynum
Published: September 5, 2008

Scraped away by two storms since last year, the beach vanishes behind Carlyle Buelvas' home at high tide, when waves lick the dune a few feet from her back porch and lap at the unprotected rental condos next door.

Gulf Coast Faces Sea Level-Sinkage Double Whammy
Discovery News
By Larry O'Hanlon and Michael Reilly
Published: September 3, 2008

Hurricane Gustav has been a harsh reminder that it's only the whim of a hurricane track, a few miles this way or that, which can make the difference between a close call and another Katrina-like catastrophe for New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities.

Man – and money – against the ocean
Charlotte Observer
By Elizabeth Leland
Published: August 30, 2008

Beach restoration critics say nature will eventually win, despite costly efforts paid for in part with public funds.

Geologist: Engineering plans for Reach 8 are 'problematic'
Palm Beach Daily News
By William Kelly
Published: August 29, 2008

A geologist testified at a hearing Friday that engineering plans to rebuild the Reach 8 beach are deeply flawed.

International Beach Preservation Trust Locates at Western Carolina U.
Innovations Report
By Bill Studenc
Published: August 26, 2008

Western Carolina University is the new home to the offices of the Santa Aguila Charitable Trust, an international organization devoted to the protection and preservation of beaches around the world, and recent WCU graduate Adam Griffith has been hired as director of the trust’s Beachcare program.

Committee plans to seek long-term solutions to beach erosion
Wilmington Star News
By Gareth McGrath
Published: April 28, 2008

North Carolina's decades-long ban on hardened structures along the coast has long been showing some holes. Now, it could be close to crumbling.

How valuable are storm predictions?
Orlando Sentinel
By Maya Bell
Published: April 10, 2008

William Gray expects 15 named storms but was off in recent years.

Beach residents fear loss of homes without barrier; Engineers, environmentalists battle over whether to build structure in N.C.
USA TODAY
By Jordan Schrader
Published: February 25, 2008

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Waves stayed as much as 200 feet from Laura and Tom Hearn's Figure Eight Island home a decade ago. Erosion changed that. Today, the surf licks at sandbags stacked right out front. Unless the state eases its ban on hard structures at the beach in May, the Hearns and other island residents will have to remove the bags and will not be able to build what they say will protect their homes: a metal structure jutting into the ocean.

Beach plan raises environmental issues on Hunting Island State Park
Beaufort Gazette
By Ben Pillow
Published: January 22, 2008

A plan to add 400,000 cubic yards of sand to eroded areas on Hunting Island State Park's coast over five years was recently revised, but a shoreline expert says the project still contradicts policies and considerations set forth in South Carolina law...

Scientists see no point to easing seawall ban
Raleigh News & Observer, Myrtle Beach Sun News
By Wade Rollins
Published: January 3, 2008

More than 40 coastal scientists have signed a letter urging state lawmakers to resist easing a ban on seawalls along the shoreline.