Cranes being used on Plum Island to restore the oceanfront dunes.
Longer view to the area where the cranes are being used.
(Plum Island MA) I contacted Newbury building inspector Sam Joslin this morning (Thursday) and learned that Plum Island Beach was open.
I decided to take a few pictures of the Plum Island oceanfront. It turned out to be pretty close to high tide.
I wanted to see how the property recovery was going as well as how safe the surviving homes appeared to be when the next storm happens.
In the distance I could see workers using cranes to try and return the dunes to where they were before the storm.
Looking at houses that survived the storm it was easy to see that their locations are far from safe. These houses are built on sand dunes. I know that there are foundations involved but those too are resting on sand.
My religious background kicked in when I saw the houses and the sand:
“On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.” – from “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” by Edward Mote
One homeowner has decided to stay on his oceanfront lot but move his house backward onto a foundation further inland. His optimism regarding his ability to withstand future storms in the new location may be misplaced.
home on left was moved back
front view of home that was moved back
One lady with a house in the area told reporters that she had been coming to Plum Island each summer for forty years and that the water used to be, “hundreds of yards away.” It is certainly not that far away anymore!
The shrinking beach size and the tenuous location of the surviving homes are a combination destined to lead to trouble in the future for the Plum Island oceanfront property owners.
The ocean in my pictures is where it is now reaching some three weeks after the storm. How can it not be concluded that this area stands one storm away from being endangered yet again?
McClelland Miscellanea 