Local

Bridgeport, Conn. -- In a new plan to address flooding in the South End of Bridgeport, city officials see an opportunity to kick-start private investment and development in the waterfront area. Bridgeport received more than $50 million in federal grants in the last four years to funding the flood protection project in the South End.

OLYMPIA — Washington may become the first state to designate an official state clam, according to a proposal co-sponsored by local 19th Legislative District lawmakers Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, and Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen.

The City of St. Augustine is collaborating with Flagler College to get input from the community ahead of an upcoming workshop on resilience, sea level rise and the future impact of flooding on historic places.

FAIRBANKS - Alaska villages facing coastal disasters may be able to use new erosion-monitoring tools as part of their decision-making arsenal, thanks to a pilot study led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

HONOLULU (KHON2) - Honolulu Ocean Safety officials are keeping a close eye on a dead whale floating off Oahu's south shore.

The village of Newtok, surrounded by the Ninglick River, is losing land to erosion at a rate of about 70 feet per year. Long-term plans to relocate the village to Nelson Island have been aided lately by the completion of an environmental impact statement and a fresh infusion of federal funds. (Courtesy photo)

A photographer documents the beaches of her youth along South Carolina’s ACE Basin as they shift and re-form beyond recognition.

As Hurricane Florence was soaking the state (of North Carolina) in September, local creeks and rivers were swirling with germs, chemicals, sewage and other filth from sources that are usually stored safely and not a threat to public health.

LABUAN (Indonesia) — Indonesian fisherman Yadi was at his seaside home on the west coast of Java island when he felt a light breeze picking up on Saturday (Dec 22) night as hundreds of people milled about in nearby restaurants, enjoying barbecued fish.

If a bill pre-filed this month by Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Little River, becomes law, each of South Carolina’s coastal counties would have the opportunity to hold a countywide referendum asking voters if they would approve a penny-per-gallon increase in the fuel tax to pay for beach renourishment. The money collected in each county would pay for renourishment projects there.

Elaine Luria, the Congresswoman-elect from Virginia's 2nd District, met with Eastern Shore officials on Monday at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Wachapreague.

SCITUATE, Massachutes — The town’s plan for protecting North Humarock from future winter storms is dead in the water after a majority of residents refused to sign easements that would allow a dune nourishment and road elevation project to move forward.

The St. Johns County Commission took the first step toward paying for the first phase of beach renourishment in Ponte Vedra Beach at Tuesday’s meeting.

Speaking on behalf of Pinellas County government and the Tampa Bay Regional Resiliency Coalition, Commissioner Janet Long asked the Pinellas County Legislative Delegation to support the development of a Florida Resiliency plan during the delegation meeting Tuesday in Seminole.

Hempstead Town Board members are to vote Jan. 8 on an agreement to sell the seabed land for $55,250 for city bulkhead projects. The Town of Hempstead plans to sell 0.2 acres of shoreline to Long Beach as the city plans a $20 million bulkheading project around its utilities and critical infrastructure.

The Coastal Resources Management Council was created in 1971 to manage coastal development along Rhode Island’s 420 miles of shoreline, including the beachfront town of Westerly. A citizen board lacking coastal knowledge and appointed by politicians has often ignored years of experience to overrule staff on shoreline development projects.

FOLLY BEACH — Cristen Hampton used to have a fire pit in her backyard. Now she has a wall. Hampton was sick of the island’s back marsh, just about 15 feet from her home here, backing up into her property during high tides and serious storms. During a few events, she had a foot and a half of water in her basement.

CAPE CARTERET — The town has received two state grants, totaling more than $180,000, to help buy a 1.47-acre waterfront tract and develop a kayak, paddleboard and canoe launch facility along Pettiford Creek off Highway 58.

With rapid efficiency, a mysterious parasite is seeking out and killing a giant species of clam found only in the Mediterranean Sea. Unless scientists can find a way of stopping it soon, they say the mollusk could go extinct.

Even after wind-whipped tides crested the sea wall and surged past Mike and Cyndy Cotter’s home, the Quincy couple had no thoughts of abandoning the property, which overlooks Quincy Bay and the distant Boston skyline.

MEXICO BEACH, Fla. -- Tom Adams, who runs Mexico Beach Charters in the Florida Panhandle, moved his main fishing boat, the Nauti-Dogg, about 4 miles inland to save it from the wrath of Hurricane Michael. The Category 4 storm, packing winds of 155 mph, found it anyway.

The last time Bay County Chief of Emergency Operations Mark Bowen talked to fellow emergency workers in the outside world before Hurricane Michael cut off contact, he made a final plea: “Send everything you can.” Nearly two months later, Panama City, Mexico Beach and other parts of the Florida Panhandle hit by the strongest storm on record in the region are still trying to recover.

The 2018 red tide deposited many tons of dead fish and other marine debris on Florida’s beaches. Local officials had to figure out how to clean it up.

LAKE WORTH, Fla. — After nearly 100 years of existence, the city of Lake Worth could change its name to Lake Worth Beach if commissioners move forward with the proposal.

The message of the most comprehensive climate change report the United States has ever released is clear: climate change is already impacting Americans, and if nothing is done it will devastate the economy and disrupt millions of lives.

The celebrity chef and humanitarian talks about the role of food in recovering from a disaster and why building local capacity is so important.

MOSS LANDING — Bright morning sun filters through low hanging fog, illuminating the sparkling slough and the white feathers on a regal egret in the distance. Commuters creep by on Highway 1, between Elkhorn Slough and Moss Landing Harbor. Mark Silberstein, director of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, says the last time he stood at this same viewpoint he could see a whale breach.

The new federal climate assessment report issued on Friday paints a dire picture for the future of the Rhode Island environment -- and economy -- due to the impacts of global warming.

Beach Nourishment financing: The Captiva Erosion Prevention District's board was presented with updates to the tentative apportionment for the proposed beach renourishment project at its monthly meeting.

LIHUE — Next-level hurricanes, intense heat waves, death for corals and habitat loss for rare species are all potentials for the next hundred years, as well infrastructure wipe-out from a 3.2-foot sea level rise, according to scientists. All that and more is included in the Hawaii-Pacific Islands chapter of the Fourth official U.S. National Climate Assessment, released Friday, in which authors say communities need to start making a plan.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Press Release) - Hurricane Michael devastated coastal communities along the Florida Panhandle but the storm also caused significant agricultural crop losses well inland, as shown by a new report from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

Solana Beach City Council unanimously approves a new public recreation fee – which is charged to the bluff-top homeowners to compensate for the amount of beach lost through the construction of seawalls.

Volunteers with the Tolowa Dunes Stewards will begin working under a grant this month that will allow the nonprofit to incorporate heavy equipment and paid crews in its ongoing efforts to remove European beachgrass from the dunes.

Carl Spector, Commissioner of the Environment for the City of Boston, presented an overview of the Coastal Resilience Study for the Downtown Waterfront at the November Wharf District Council meeting.

Can a hurricane kill a community? It’s a question the residents of Mexico Beach, Florida, are probably asking after Hurricane Michael roared ashore there on Oct. 10, obliterating a city just a little larger than Fair Bluff. It’s too soon to say whether Hurricane Florence will spell the end of Fair Bluff, or any of the other communities battered by September’s epic flooding in the eastern third of North Carolina. But after back-to-back catastrophes — Matthew in 2016 and now Florence — residents of eastern North Carolina fear that those who can afford to flee flood-prone towns will move away, leaving their poorer neighbors behind and their communities with dwindling resources that are essential to recovery.

Jefferson Parish Councilman Mark Spears is the latest example of why politicians shouldn’t be given pots of public money to spend as they wish.

Public comment is being sought through Dec. 3 on what are being called “significant revisions that Grays Harbor County is seeking to make” to its Shoreline Master Program (SMP) — similar to the updated review process now being completed by the city of Ocean Shores and approved by the state Department of Ecology.

SUNSET BEACH — Town Council last week approved sending out a letter about island dredging town waterways and its estimated costs to all residents. Approval at council’s Nov. 5 meeting came following months of discussion and debate on how to proceed when costs aren’t definite. The dredging project is intended to provide a long-term management template for maintaining navigation access throughout approx. 3.5 miles of waterways within the Town of Sunset Beach. The waterways include Jinks Creek, the Bay Area, the Feeder Channel and the finger canals (A, B, C, & D) along 6th, Marlin, Dolphin, Sailfish, and Cobia Streets.

SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. - In Walton County, beach front property is hard to come by along the Panhandle, and in South Walton, it's an even hotter commodity. Walton County Commissioners are looking to scoop up millions of dollars of sand as fast as they can. In the heat of the public verse private beach battle, Walton Commissioners are in the buyers market. The tourist development council has $8.5 million dollars left in their budget. Each parcel bought will be use for public beach access or parking to facilitate further access.

Homeowners at the inlet to the Buena Vista Lagoon are fighting a plan to permanently open the lagoon to the sea.

These photos were chosen by staff members at the Panama City News Herald as some of their more memorable images from the Hurricane Michael disaster.

Water samples continue to contain high concentrations of Karenia brevis in Pinellas

There will be no reduced-price beach badges for residents since it would be breaking the law to offer them, said Mayor John G. Ducey during the most recent Township Council meeting.

With another winter approaching, city officials plan to build up protective structures along Plum Island’s Reservation Terrace to help stem erosion and flooding in the neighborhood.

Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina officials hoping FEMA will reimburse most expenses, from the cost of debris removal to repairing damaged government buildings

An aerial survey of damage done to dunes at the south end of Holgate and storm damage at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Coastal erosion on the First Coast has caused residents to push for an increase in the tourist development tax to help fund beach renourishment. Following the Tuesday, Oct. 16 meeting of the St. Johns County Commission, it does not appear that increase will take place.

Other major expenses include rental and purchase of stormwater pumps, hoses and generators to augment those the town already had in place.

Beach renourishment delayed

The additional penny can be used “to acquire, construct, extend, enlarge, remodel, repair, improve, maintain, operate, or finance.”

First Matthew, then Florence.