SALISBURY, MASS. (WHDH) - After some brutal winter storms destroyed sand dunes and caused damage to homes in Salisbury, the dunes are getting replaced with tons – and tons – of sand.
State leaders are struggling to find a solution and are warning that homeowners will likely have to pay the price if they want to put an end to this beach battle.
Construction equipment could be seen dumping tons of sand onto Salisbury beaches Tuesday, filling in dunes intended to protect the coast.
“We need to have a plan to be much more proactive than we are today,” said State Sen. Bruce Tarr. “We tend to be very reactive.”
A one-two punch of winter storms last month not only left flooding in homes and streets, but broke Salisbury’s fire line of defense – the dunes.
Tarr said fixing the dunes and shoring up the coastline could cost cost homeowners up to $800,000, a cost he described as unsustainable without many sustainable solutions.
“We have to start the permitting cycle all over again,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been spending weeks doing.”
Workers have been cleaning up damage to dozens of homes that could face a flood of trouble again the next time a storm comes to New England.
Tarr said the time is now to get some help and to establish more long term fixes to the problem.
“We can get out ahead of it with regular nourishment and proper design and proper engineering, so that we aren’t always in the midst of a crisis,” he said.
20,000 tons of sand will be brought in to fix the beach.
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