FILE - The remnants of East Beach Road are damaged after heavy overnight winds and surf battered the coastline, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Westport, Mass. Salisbury, Mass., is scrambling after a weekend storm washed away mountains of sand trucked in for nearly $600,000 dune that was meant to protect homes, roads and other infrastructure. The community and other areas of Massachusetts also were hit by severe storms in January, including flooding, erosion, and infrastructure damage.
The Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change group, which facilitated the project and helped raise funds, posted on social media about the project’s completion last week and then again after the storm. They argued the project still was worthwhile, noting that “the sacrificial dunes did their job” and protected some properties from being “eaten up” by the storm.
Sand replenishment has been the government’s go-to method of shore protection for decades. Congress has long appropriated money for such work, arguing it effectively protects lives and property and sustains the tourism industry.Blizzard warning, avalanche watch as storm packing up to 10 feet of snow moves into Sierra Nevadais forecast to bring more bad weatherSalisbury is also not the first town to see its efforts literally wash away.
“We’re managing a natural resource that protects a lot of interests,” Tarr said, adding that replenishing the dunes was one of the few options since hard structures like sea walls aren’t allowed on Massachusetts beaches.Resident Peter Lodi responded to the Salisbury beach group’s Facebook post, saying he wasn’t sure why anyone was shocked,