Barrier Islands & beaches are incompatible with our use of them

[SoCalDem]

http://www.floridaoceanographic.org/environ/bar_isl.htm

Barrier Islands
Barrier islands are elongated islands of unconsolidated sediments (usually sand) trending parallel to the shore. They are found along coast with gently sloping coastal plains and a moderate tidal range. Barrier islands are generally backed by estuaries and wetlands, which may range in size from narrow lagoons to extensive sounds over 27 miles wide. Barrier islands are cut by one or more tidal inlets. Here in the United States, barrier islands are found from New England down the Atlantic Coast, around the Gulf of Mexico to Texas. There are no true barrier islands on the Pacific coast; however there are barrier beaches.

Barrier islands are not static structures. They are extremely dynamic systems that are constantly changing and moving. Wave, wind and tidal energies are the primary factors that shape and regulate the barrier island ecosystem. For barrier islands to form you need a large sand supply to build the island with and moderate wave energy to shape the island. Barrier islands form in three ways. They can form from spits, from drowned dune ridges or from sand bars.

snip.....

Barrier islands buffer the coastline they front from the wave and storm energies of the open ocean. The beaches on barrier islands offer little resistance to storm waves, allowing them to effectively absorb and dissipate the immense forces that confront them. Most discussions of barrier islands focus on the beaches, dunes and inlets; however, the most important feature of a barrier island can be found on its landward side. The chain of barrier islands along the coast allows estuarine conditions; bays, lagoons and marshes to form behind them. These estuaries are very productive areas which are important in the life cycle of many open ocean species.

Barrier islands have always held a strong attraction to humans. Unfortunately, the nature of barrier islands is incompatible with our uses. As we build houses on the islands and use the inlets for navigation, we want the beaches and inlets to stay put, but the island moves. Our efforts to stabilize the islands have caused the loss of some of their natural defensive capabilities. So just remember, when dealing with a barrier island you must be as flexible as the land you are standing on.

[Dirty Hippie]

1. See my rant

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x1685525

There is a barrier island near me COVERED in expensive beach homes that is only several hundred yards wide in places.

As my dear old Daddy use to say, "It's pretty stupid to buy land that may not be there tomorrow" much less BUILD on it.

[SoCalDem]

4. And the fact that THEY are even there, endangers YOU

Just like dams upriver, cause flooding downriver...

I think that houses and PERMANENT structures should NEVER be built on or near beaches... The natural drainage necessary in storms does NO GOOD if it's under a foot of asphalt..:grr:..

and why should only RICH people be allowed to see the ocean??

There are some places in SoCalif, where you cannot even SEE the ocean....

Supposedly the beach is "public", but the access to it is very limited..

[blindpig]

23. The Apalachicola valley is one of my favorite places

You're truly fortunate to live in the most biodiverse area of the country. St George is another disaster waiting to happen, time will tell.
I try to visit your area at least every other year in search of reptiles&hibians, birding and seafood but I'm over due. Slurp some oysters for me!

[ochazuke]

2. Damn Straight

Developers! They figure if it doesn't move, you should get the governemnt to put a sewer in there and then they build crappy structures on it, sell them for ten times what it's worth, then leave before they fall apart.

[demnan]

3. My favorite barrier island

is Assategue Island in Maryland. It's a national park and a pretty one too. No roads on the island, no buildings (except porta potties) and the cutest wild horses in the world. Camping on the White sand in tents and trekking in nature is how you should appreciate a barrier island.

[tlcandie]

5. I agree...

I believe we've passed far over to the other side when it comes to people, money and their buying power.

Building homes on hillsides that slide away (California & Washington state and I'm sure others) or on barrier islands or known flood planes is absolutely beyond any reasoning that involves the brain.

It's because of the exclusivity or views while the rest of us pay out the nose on insurance because of their claims.

The lands is a living being and it changes and people must change with those changes. Land can become inhabitable, even moreso with the way we are messing with our environment.

I can see that Florida could possibly become an uninhabitable place at some point, IF earth changes continue to increase.

[SoCalDem]

6. After catastrophic storms like these

is the perfect time to address the future "use" of shoreline..

It would pay dividends in the future to "buy these people out", and never again allow building there.. Let attrition take care of the ones that remain, but eventually, Mother Nature will deal with them too..

[lapfog_1]

7. No federal disaster relief money for homes built

on unsustainable land (such as barrier islands). Zero.
And insurance companies should be forced to segregate all
such properties into a single "high risk" pool. With the
appropriate premiums. This won't stop people from building
$900,000 homes in places like that, but a $45,000 premium might
put a stop to a lot of nonsense. Same with homes in CA built
right into the forests, or on cliffs overlooking the ocean.

[SoCalDem]

8. I am always irritated when they "interview" people here

who have been "burned out of their 5th house in 10 years" in some canyon..

They always say the same thing.. "We're gonna rebuild...we LOVE it here".:grr:..

I have lived in the same crappy house for 23 years..and some rich guy gets a "new one" every couple of years for living in a place he never should have been allowed to build in the first place..:grr:..

These are the same people who we see on tv all upset when coyotes come and eat "Fluffy" or a bear takes a dip in their pool :eyes:

They just don't get it..

[annabanana]

11. what about

the folks in houses going for 150k in the middle class community of Long Beach NY, founded 1880, 33,000 pop (?) Not all shore homes are the rich people....

[lapfog_1]

13. How often do they get destroyed?

That's really the criteria. But really, what irritates me the
most are people who INTENTIONALLY rebuild in dangerous areas
that are routinely destroyed. Like every 10 or 15 years...
All of live in structures that are "at risk" from some disaster
or another (tornadoes, earthquakes, forest fires, etc). But we
can discourage people from building on lands that are extremely
prone to such disasters. Mostly I dislike the taxpayer paying
for such hubris.

[barb162]

12. Zero insurance would help a lot more to stop the rebuilding

[SoCalDem]

16. That would not stop super rich people from rebuilding

There needs to be LEGISLATION to prohibit building anything permanent on beaches or barrier islands..

No swanky hotels?? Too bad..Walk across the road to go to the beach

[barb162]

19. I agree, legislation would be so much better

but I somehow can't see it happening unless there were some huge number of storms per year and it was just wiping out the finances of the state. Just watched some news of the people coming back and looking at the damage and talking how they were going to rebuild.(scream)

[SoCalDem]

26. I heard a Floridian on the radio today

He had just built a house, and he had called about 10 insurance agents.. They had all told him that "they were currently NOT writing homeowners' policies"..

Most of the Florida companies are using "re-insurers" and the fear is that if you have filed a claim, you will not be renewed and Good luck finding a new company.. and will you be able to afford the premiums??

[Tims]

9. Open River and Beaches Law

Texas has an open beaches and rivers law that limits to some degree development on barrier Islands. It is weaker than what I would like, but is better than many other states. The law states that no construction can extend beyond the natural vegetation line and that access to beaches can not be impeded. Believe it or not it has been strictly enforced. Every time a storm reshapes an island, there are always several homes that suddenly find themselves in violation of the law because the vegetation line has been moved back. These homes are bull dozed and I always take a little satisfaction when this happens.

I grew up on the south Texas coast near Padre Island (the longest barrier island in the US). Not only are barrier islands incompatible with commercial and residential development, they are extremely fragile. The ecosystems on these islands are extremely complex and easily disrupted. Beaches that I remember as teaming with life back in the 50's and early 60's are now almost sterile. Sand dunes which used to tower 30 and 40 feet now rarely exceed 10 feet and are now twice as far from the high tide mark as they were in the past. Even a small storm now will breach the island because the destruction of dunes and vegetation losses. Both these breaches and the increase in windblown sand has caused the estuaries and laguna areas to fill with sand, and because these breaches are quickly closed to keep the roads and developments intact, the sand cannot wash out the way it washed in.

Luckily Texas has two large barrier islands which have virtually no development, Matagorda Island and St. Joseph Island. The former had been military property for years (it had been used off and on as a navy bombing range) is now half a state park and half a national wildlife refuge and is only accessible by boat. The later has a single owner (the eccentric wingnut Bass family who were responsible for the attempted cornering of the silver market in the 70's and the construction of Biosphere II) who have shown no desire to develop the island (they maintain a modest cattle ranch on the island along with a few residences they use for vacations and entertaining). Without a causeway to the island, it is unlikely they ever attempt commercial development. Visiting these islands can be a real treat in that they have changed little from their pristine origins.

[SoCalDem]

10. The beach of my childhood vs Newport Beach, CA

The pics below were taken in 1999...and this was the beach I frequented as a child in the 50's.. there is still very little development...and I hope it stays that way.. This beach (Santa Clara Beach, Panama) went on for MILES, and the jungle met the sand.. We would rent horses for a dollar a day, and would wander for hours up and down the beach and into the jungle canopy when we got too hot :)





or this

[Ripley]

14. It's called "breeching" when an island is split by a storm.

Happens all the time. Natural. Yet marketers will just rename the two islands with new sexy names like "Destiny" and "Sunset Isle" and wah-la! There will always be people with enough money to build a business or house there.

Stupid? yes. Anti-democracy? yes. Gonna change anytime soon, no, not without government intervention IMHO.

Taxpayers should not have their pooled money spent on evacuating, rescuing and rebuilding those who live in dangerous geographical areas. However, where do you draw the line? I believe it is just as insane for farm families to keep rebuilding their homes along the Mississippi or any other flood plain. How many neighborhoods does the collective American economy pay to rebuild for those who live in mobile homes in Kansas?

It will only get worse. With climate change getting pretty damn fast and furious, many Alaskans are watching their villages by the sea fall into the ocean.

This would be a great "BIG PICTURE" issue for Kerry to latch onto this year and use. Clearly he out-polls Smirkaholic on environmental issues.

[Ravenseye]

15. Didn't Jesus Say...

...something about building a house on sand? being...bad or something?

Seriously. I never understood it. I personally love living on the side of a hill in Western Pa.

No tornadoes (very very rare around here, and when they do come they're small and skip off the tops of hills)

No Hurricanes (well we get the rain like now from Ivan, but nothing damaging)

No Floods (ok those in the valleys do. My friends basement flooded in the last hurricane rain a week ago...but I live on the side of a hill)

No Earthquakes (at least none you can ever feel)

Pretty much all we're in danger from is an asteroid or something from space.

[librechik]

17. I'm Native American. It all looks totally stupid to me

pretty much from Columbus (or whoever) onward. But I can't talk about it. Hurts too much.

[Gin]

18. I say...build wherever you want...but don't expect me to pay for it when

it collapses in a storm....I (a taxpayer) am tired of picking up the tab.

[barb162]

20. I can't even imagine....

[DiverDave]

21. Once again we pay for

the rich to have there "Stuff".
We can bitch and moan all we want, but the bottom line is that in this country, the rich get things for free.
Paid for by you and me, in higher insurance premiums, and higher taxes.
There is going be a revolution, and those wealthy, elitists, fascists are gonna ask "WHY"

[DoNotRefill]

22. Does Federal Disaster relief go to individuals?

we've got a place in Florida on a barrier island. We've taken a fair bit of damage over the years, despite being way far from the beach. we've never been eligible for a single penny of Federal money for repairs. I guess we're not playing the system right or something...

[electricmonk]

24. Saw a story a few years ago about NC's Outer Banks

It was talking about since the land has gotten so expensive there that no one can afford to build just a basic cottage type house anymore. To get there money back on the land investment thay have to build these massive houses that are borderline hotels so they can rent them out for 6000+ dollars a week. I've seen some listed that have 14 bedrooms.

[bleedingheart]

25. Funny thing is that the colonists were smarter than we are

they didn't put up expensive homes on those islands...in fact the only people who lived on the coasts were those who were employed there in the port cities....especially those port cities in the South.

We get dumber as time goes by.