ISLE OF PALMS, South Carolina – With high tidal cycles expected in the coming months, several Isle of Palms beachfront residents are anxious that their homes would not withstand the forces.
According to an Isle of Palms councilmember, the beach is in the worst state it has been in since Hurricane Hugo.
“Tremendous erosion and devastation, and I’m in a confused and desperate state,” said resident Jimmy Bernstein.
He is not alone. Many homeowners on Beachwood East in Wild Dunes watch as pieces of their homes wash away. Jimmy and Barbara Bernstein said they never anticipated their home would look like it does now when they purchased it in 2011.
“There was one hundred yards of verdant tree growth. “I would never have thought this was possible,” Jimmy Bernstein remarked.
Their home is now boarded up, fighting tremendous waves.
“The water is flowing around the houses, which has occurred directly beneath my bed. “It was an area that had simply eroded away behind what we had repaired,” Barbara Bernstein explained.
According to Barbara Bernstein, the South Carolina state government prevents them from installing barrier rocks to defend their homes, leaving them with gigantic sandbags that are no longer effective.
“There is a lot that we can do that we haven’t been doing unless we take a proactive approach. “We’re going to keep having this Band-Aid approach, which is probably not going to get us out of it,” councilman Scott Pierce said.
Pierce stated that the city had approved a $550,000 emergency deployment of sandbags, consisting of 1,200 bags, but they were not put soon enough.
“Unfortunately, they didn’t get there in time, and the water has arrived, and we’re seeing the damage,” Pierce told us.
Pierce stated that a new second opinion, along with a beach management study, reveals that the city is falling behind in terms of beach nourishment strategy and execution.
“Unless we at least objectively evaluate what the engineers are telling us, we have to look at some technology or some methods of retention, all we’re gonna be doing is putting millions of yards of cubic sand on the beach just to watch it end up going over to our neighbor island,” according to Pierce.
Pierce explained that the second opinion investigates the usage of hard structures perpendicular to the shore to assist keep sand. He urged citizens to attend the Beach Ad Hoc Committee meeting on Friday at 9 a.m. to learn more. For additional information about city agendas, please click here.
Pierce stated that there is no time to waste; the nourishment project was anticipated to cost approximately $22 million 15 to 18 months ago. He stated that new estimates for the exact same project will be $32 million.
