Two recent events on nearly opposite ends of the South Fork provide a look into the future for our coastal communities, and it is not encouraging. Both involving water, they illustrate a new reality that the infrastructure costs associated with increasingly hostile weather will be astronomical.
After an Oct. 30 storm dropped two to three inches of rain undermining a portion of the Shinnecock Canal bridge, the Southampton Town supervisor declared a state of emergency. Both westbound lanes were closed to traffic, with vehicles allowed to pass slowly only on the left shoulder. Delays of up to three hours were reported. Sunrise Highway was fully reopened after about four days of emergency work. And in Montauk, a lengthy challenge has faced town and state officials at Ditch Plain.
Beach erosion has been a familiar part of life here for decades, but in recent years its speed and impacts have grown. As at the Shinnecock bridge, yearslong periods of stability can be turned upside down in a matter of days or even hours.
A series of strong storms in 2023 tore away the protective dune at Ditch Plain, narrowing the beach for the public and threatening a neighborhood with inundation. At least $5 million in town and state money was set aside for putting sand back on the beach. Work was underway this week on nearly half a mile of shoreline.
The new 16-foot-tall dune was being built to Federal Emergency Management Agency specifications, which would make it eligible for reimbursement from Washington for sand replenishment in the future. But illustrating the precariousness of the undertaking, a town official said recently that as much as an inch of sand was being lost to wind nearly every day during construction. A temporary burlap cover could be added soon, with beach grass plantings to provide a degree of semipermanent stability. Over time, the indifferent Atlantic Ocean will win out, and the day will come that it is too expensive and complex to further fortify the beach.
Evidence is overwhelming that extreme weather is becoming more frequent, and in many cases more intense. Rising global temperatures are making once-rare heatwaves, droughts, fires, and floods commonplace. More heat causes greater evaporation, with the additional moisture forming more clouds, which lead to heavier rain. Warmer oceans also pump up tropical storms and hurricanes. Stunning and unprecedented rates of strengthening have been observed in recent years. Hurricane Melissa in October was the third-most-intense Atlantic hurricane known and generated the highest storm gust ever recorded worldwide — 252 miles per hour. This figure put the hurricane on par with some of the most destructive tornadoes, albeit over a much wider area.
For policy makers, greater extreme weather is presenting new and growing challenges. From bridges to beaches, the response so far has been to repair damage after it occurs. This is unsustainable, if from a cost perspective alone. New approaches to weather resilience have been talked about but not implemented. The moment is rapidly approaching that dumping sand and shoring up abutments will not be enough. Officials must make a priority of educating the public about the risks and then convincing taxpayers to support sustainable, long-term solutions.