Local experts say towns proving more resilient against coastal flooding

Sunday
Jan 7, 2018 at 6:59 PM Jan 7, 2018 at 7:05 PM

Jessica Trufant The Patriot Ledger @JTrufant_Ledger

MARSHFIELD – Glenda Adams said it wasn’t exactly convenient when the town rebuilt the seawall separating her Foster Avenue home from the ocean.

The new sea wall, built in 2015, is about 3 feet taller and 6 inches thicker than the previous wall, which was more than 80 years old. Adams said the town had to remove and replace her deck and a porch for the project, and passing things, like snacks and sun block, down to people on the beach from the sea wall isn’t as easy with the added height.

But Adams said there’s no question that the new sea wall that runs from Fieldston Beach to Ocean Bluff provides extra protection for her home and neighborhood during blizzards and coastal storms.

“The water still comes over the wall, but I do think it’s helped a lot,” said Adams, who has lived on Foster Avenue for 17 years. “There’s no worry that the wall is going to break.”

Over the last five years or so, Marshfield and Scituate have spent millions of dollars replacing thousands of feet of sea wall and revetment that serve as the last, and sometimes the only, line of defense for coastal neighborhoods.

Local coastal experts say that neighborhoods with newer sea walls and properties elevated off the ground tend to fare better during storms that bring crashing waves and several feet of flooding than the areas with aging walls and less flood mitigation.

Doris Crary, owner of the Oceanside Inn in Scituate, said three different sections of old sea wall near her property have breached or broken during coastal storms since 2010. Waves ripped a large chunk from the top of the sea wall just to the left of the bed and breakfast during high tide on Thursday, and Crary said seh thinks the section right in front of the property will be the next to go.

Crary said “there’s no question in her mind” that the inn would have been destroyed during a blizzard that knocked out 80 feet of sea wall in December of 2010 had she not elevated the building from 14 feet to 23 feet earlier that year.

“When the wall went down, my stairs didn’t even get pulled off,” said Crary, a longtime advocate for flood insurance and coastal infrastructure. “The investment has paid off, and if homeowners have the opportunity, they should elevate.”

Joe Rossi, chairman of the Marshfield Coastal Coalition and the Massachusetts Coastal Coalition, said Thursday brought a “bench-mark storm,” with flooding that hasn’t occurred in 30 or 40 years in areas like Scituate Harbor.

But Rossi said that the number of properties that are seriously damaged continues to drop with each major event due to flood mitigation, such as elevation of existing homes, stricter building codes and improvements to coastal infrastructure.

“We still have problem structures and problem areas and we probably always will, but a combination of mitigation pieces have absolutely helped,” Rossi said. “The South Shore is a great area to study what has and hasn’t helped because we’ve done a mixture of things.”

Rossi, the flood insurance specialist for Rogers & Gray Insurance Agency in Norwell, said that mitigation and flood plain management saves $2 billion nationally each year.

While assessing the damage to the Oceanside Drive sea wall on Friday, Rossi said he and Crary were struck by how resilient the seaside community has become, and how the damage would have been much worse a decade or two ago.

“I said, ‘man, the people who come here in the summer have no idea,’” Rossi said. “It’s fascinating.”

Jessica Trufant may be reached at jtrufant@ledger.com.

Sunday
Jan 7, 2018 at 6:59 PM Jan 7, 2018 at 7:05 PM

Jessica Trufant The Patriot Ledger @JTrufant_Ledger

MARSHFIELD – Glenda Adams said it wasn’t exactly convenient when the town rebuilt the seawall separating her Foster Avenue home from the ocean.

The new sea wall, built in 2015, is about 3 feet taller and 6 inches thicker than the previous wall, which was more than 80 years old. Adams said the town had to remove and replace her deck and a porch for the project, and passing things, like snacks and sun block, down to people on the beach from the sea wall isn’t as easy with the added height.

But Adams said there’s no question that the new sea wall that runs from Fieldston Beach to Ocean Bluff provides extra protection for her home and neighborhood during blizzards and coastal storms.

“The water still comes over the wall, but I do think it’s helped a lot,” said Adams, who has lived on Foster Avenue for 17 years. “There’s no worry that the wall is going to break.”

Over the last five years or so, Marshfield and Scituate have spent millions of dollars replacing thousands of feet of sea wall and revetment that serve as the last, and sometimes the only, line of defense for coastal neighborhoods.

Local coastal experts say that neighborhoods with newer sea walls and properties elevated off the ground tend to fare better during storms that bring crashing waves and several feet of flooding than the areas with aging walls and less flood mitigation.

Doris Crary, owner of the Oceanside Inn in Scituate, said three different sections of old sea wall near her property have breached or broken during coastal storms since 2010. Waves ripped a large chunk from the top of the sea wall just to the left of the bed and breakfast during high tide on Thursday, and Crary said seh thinks the section right in front of the property will be the next to go.

Crary said “there’s no question in her mind” that the inn would have been destroyed during a blizzard that knocked out 80 feet of sea wall in December of 2010 had she not elevated the building from 14 feet to 23 feet earlier that year.

“When the wall went down, my stairs didn’t even get pulled off,” said Crary, a longtime advocate for flood insurance and coastal infrastructure. “The investment has paid off, and if homeowners have the opportunity, they should elevate.”

Joe Rossi, chairman of the Marshfield Coastal Coalition and the Massachusetts Coastal Coalition, said Thursday brought a “bench-mark storm,” with flooding that hasn’t occurred in 30 or 40 years in areas like Scituate Harbor.

But Rossi said that the number of properties that are seriously damaged continues to drop with each major event due to flood mitigation, such as elevation of existing homes, stricter building codes and improvements to coastal infrastructure.

“We still have problem structures and problem areas and we probably always will, but a combination of mitigation pieces have absolutely helped,” Rossi said. “The South Shore is a great area to study what has and hasn’t helped because we’ve done a mixture of things.”

Rossi, the flood insurance specialist for Rogers & Gray Insurance Agency in Norwell, said that mitigation and flood plain management saves $2 billion nationally each year.

While assessing the damage to the Oceanside Drive sea wall on Friday, Rossi said he and Crary were struck by how resilient the seaside community has become, and how the damage would have been much worse a decade or two ago.

“I said, ‘man, the people who come here in the summer have no idea,’” Rossi said. “It’s fascinating.”

Jessica Trufant may be reached at jtrufant@ledger.com.

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