OCEAN CITY, Md. - All along the northeast coast, Hurricane Irene brought with it destructive rain, winds, and a damaging surge of water, scouring beaches like no other storm has for at least the past decade.
And yet, many parts of the northeast coast remain intact, thanks, in no small part, to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
USACE Public Affairs Specialist Brooks Hubbard talks with the Town of Ocean City, Maryland City Engineer about the effects of hurricane Irene.
Through a variety of projects all along the coast, ranging from replenishing the beaches with sand every few years to planting vegetation along protective sand dunes, the Army Corps and its city and state partners have managed to reduce economic and even environmental damages from even the most powerful storms.
Although the damages prevented from Hurricane Irene haven’t been calculated yet, it is widely confirmed that these coastal storm damage reduction projects have already paid for themselves, just from this one storm. The next step, say officials, is to securing funding to repair any damages so that these beaches and towns can be protected when the next storm comes.