Robert Young, director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University, said rebuilding back the same way after a storm strike or just severe erosion doesn't make economic or practical sense knowing what we know about likely future impacts along the oceanfront. New homes also are being built to higher standards, and simply higher on stilts, to better weather the rising seas and expected increase in strength of future tropical weather systems due to climate change.īut Dr. That's led to increased interest in taking steps to stabilize beach areas seeing increased erosion, whether through hardened structures like sandbags and terminal groins to beach nourishment projects. Washing away: As another Outer Banks home washes away, the impacts could be felt along the NC coast Prices generally increase the closer you are to the ocean, meaning removing or demolishing a beachfront property can cost the homeowner and coastal towns and counties a lot of lost rental and tax revenue, not to mention the potential public relations hit. Then there's the financial considerations. It also spawned the highest tide ever recorded in Wilmington. Hurricane Isaias lashed several Brunswick County beach towns in August 2000, including Ocean Isle Beach seen here. Many oceanfront homes, especially those built with renting out as their primary purpose, also are too big to be moved. In many beach towns moving a threatened oceanfront home to another lot isn't feasible because everything has already been developed. ![]() But there are plenty of reasons why that's not the favored option, or even practical, in many cases. The study projected that by 2050 Wilmington could see an increase of up to 2.26 feet in its high tides compared to 1992 levels. coast, also released in March, showed seas continuing to rise, with areas of the Mid-Atlantic coast showing the highest increases. Rising waters: New studies show 'unprecedented' sea-level rise along the North Carolina coastĪn annual look by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary at 32 tide gauges along the U.S. Officials said rising seas are contributing to more, and larger, flooding events in coastal areas. Hurricane Florence in 2018 brought historic flooding to many areas of Eastern North Carolina, including in downtown New Bern. Pictures of oceanfront homes in Rodanthe, four in the past 15 months, washing away into the encroaching Atlantic have made national and international news and refocused attention on the dire erosion situation along some parts of the Outer Banks. Officials with the Cape Hatteras National Seashore have recorded erosion rates around Rodanthe, a small village near the northern tip of Hatteras Island, of more than 13 feet annually in recent years. While some areas of the state's 300-mile shoreline are quite stable, especially those that receive regular beach nourishment projects, others are rapidly dwindling. The rules are more stringent in areas near inlets that are notoriously unstable and can quickly erode as inlet channels move. ![]() These setbacks are based on average long-term erosion rates that reflect changes in North Carolina's shoreline over nearly half a century. ![]() With several recent academic studies warning of increased sea-level rise along the North Carolina coast and the June 1 start of hurricane season just around the corner, the old question of whether we can continue with development along the oceanfront as normal − or at least as we have been building − is garnering new attention.įor decades, state regulators have used historical erosion rates to determine how far back from the first stable line of natural vegetation, often referred to as the dune line, a structure can be built.
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