Folly Beach loses distinctive dunes - Charleston Post Courier
Wade Spees // The Post and Courier
Hurricane Irene's wave action took away the dune under this walkover at Folly Beach County Park — and took away sand from other parts of the island prompting Mayor Tim Goodwin to bring the problem to the attention of state and federal officials.
FOLLY BEACH -- At the island's south end, many dune walkovers no longer span dunes. The dunes and their sea oats are gone, leaving the walkovers eerily suspended above empty space.
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At the island's north end, the popular surfing area called "The Washout" is really washed out. Where an expanse of white sand stood weeks ago, the ocean now beats against rocks -- at both high and low tides.
"It's way different," Folly Beach resident Brett Epps said after a walk through The Washout with his dog, Indigo.
"I've been out here all day and haven't seen any beach yet. Even at low tide, there was no beach," Epps said.
Epps came walking by Tuesday as Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin was leading a tour of state and federal officials in the areas most badly damaged by Hurricane Irene on the weekend of Aug. 27. Goodwin hopes the Army Corps of Engineers will, as soon as possible, make good on its commitment to periodically renourish the beach with sand dredged from offshore.
The beach was last renourished in 2005, and the recent hurricane damage has accelerated the need for a new effort, Goodwin said.
Goodwin hosted state Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms; Jennifer Hightower, regional director for U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; and Kathy Crawford, district director for U.S. Rep Tim Scott, R-Charleston. Hightower joined in a discussion of renourishment issues in Goodwin's office but did not take part in trips to the badly damaged areas.
The hardest-hit areas included the Folly Beach County Park, which has since been closed until at least early 2012. Erosion wiped out the beach there, evaporated sand dunes, damaged buildings and boardwalks, took down power poles and washed a third of the parking area out to sea.
Goodwin said that what he wants from elected state and federal officials is their backing for a new renourishment effort, which he estimated will cost $18 million. He said 85 percent of the renourishment price tag will be borne by the federal government. The city of Folly Beach and Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, which owns the county park, together will provide the necessary local match, he said.
Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin (right) talked Tuesday with Kathy Crawford, district director from Congressman Tim Scott's office, and state Sen. Chip Campsen about the erosion that was created by Hurricane Irene.
The city puts money aside each year for renourishment and has $1.9 million banked for the match, he said. He said the PRC has pledged $660,000. The city and PRC can now together put up $2.56 million of the $2.7 million estimated to be needed to make the local match, he said.
Crawford noted that the federal government currently does not have a budget, and said she will check to see if the previous year's budget included funds for beach renourishment.
Goodwin said he realizes that the best Folly can hope for is that a federal budget is approved for fiscal year 2013, and that it includes a line item for repairing Folly Beach.
"If everything gets approved, you are probably talking about the fall of 2013" before renourishment can take place, Goodwin said.
Goodwin said Folly Beach is not only home to many families and a popular recreation spot that generates a lot of taxes for the state, it's also where sea turtles and other wildlife reside and/or nest.
"Keeping the beach intact is more than just folks staying out there with Coppertone," he said. "It's for the endangered species, too."
As Goodwin and the officials toured, trucks hauled "beach-compatible sand" from the Upstate to the County Park to try to replace some of what was lost beneath buildings and parking areas. The surf was speckled with swimmers in spite of very rough surf there, apparently generated by the combination of Hurricane Katia in the Atlantic and the remnants of tropical storm Lee whipping up the Eastern Seaboard. Beach walkers at times strolled beneath a dune walkover that spanned nothing but air.
Goodwin also led his guests to The Washout, where surfers continued to enjoy their sport while braving the unusually strong winds and surf. Goodwin said the city has replaced missing boards on four of five walkovers on public beaches that were damaged.
Campsen noted the corps became willing to cover most of renourishment costs after a study completed in 1992 concluded that more than half of Folly Beach's ongoing erosion problem is linked to the jetties the corps built off Charleston Harbor in 1896. "No state renourishment dollars are needed. What Folly needs is moral support" to spur the corps to act, he said.
Because the corps pledges in a written agreement to periodically repair the beach, no controversial funding via "earmarks" should be necessary, Goodwin added.
07 Sep, 2011--
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