Sand Castles

I live in Massachusetts; we must have a gazillion sandy beaches. Lots of rocky ones too. Kids of all ages build sand castles wherever they can. Economically minded kids build elaborate sand castles above the high tide line. Kids like this don't want their precious work to wash away at the next high tide. Many kids, however, don't mind seeing their work wash away. The ephemeral may fascinate them. Maybe they are not aware of how the tide and erosion work. Or, they think someone will help them to rebuild.

Some of the best sandy beaches in Massachusetts are on barrier beaches. Barrier beaches are stretches of sand that are moved around by the waves and tides. Some barrier beaches are small, perhaps a few hundred yards long. Some, are miles long and quite wide: just big enough to build lots of houses on.

Building a home on a barrier beach is just like building a sand castle. Some barrier beaches in Massachusetts move hundreds of feet in a century. Some have holes or breaches punched through them in a single storm. Any home built on a barrier beach is in jeopardy from wind, waves, storms and ordinary erosion. It is just a matter of time before the beach moves and the home is lost.

No barrier beach is a safe place for substantial real estate investment.

A Massachusetts barrier beach named Plum Island has been in the news a lot lately. A small storm at high tide caused the erosion that led to the dramatic loss of one home. The pictures of the home tumbling over the eroded sand dune were dramatic and wrenching. The unfortunate homeowner lost all her possessions and the real estate her home was built on. She was bereft. The town, mindful of public safety, later condemned other homes in danger of falling over the edge. I imagine those homeowners were outraged.

The town later bulldozed beach sand to reinforce the eroding dune against further catastrophic erosion. This was an attempt to save other homes that might be in imminent danger.

Reinforcing a barrier beach that is subject to active erosion in small storms and relatively ordinary high tides is not practical, economic, or public safety oriented thinking. Just like a sand castle built below high tide, the reinforcing sand will wash away. It may take some time. Maybe the sand will last a few weeks or a few years, but it will wash away. The homes that were protected for a time will shortly follow the reinforcing sand.

Does the ephemeral fascinate the people who build on barrier beaches? Do the homeowners understand the heartache that nature will force on them someday? Are they just not aware of how the tide, waves and erosion work? Or, do they think that the public will save them from the folly of building in an area that is just plain hazardous?

The barrier beach problem of poor judgment is oddly similar to at least one aspect of the current economic crisis:

Who pays when systematic poor judgment is used?