Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

Login Options

5:56 a.m. • 2-11-12

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Today: Mostly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 50° F
  • Sun: Clear.
    • Hi: 41° F
  • Mon: Mostly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 50° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Marketplace Links

Social Links

Main Menu

Sandbags No Longer to Hold Back Ocean Along N.C. Coast


e-mail print friendly
Sandbags No Longer to Hold Back Ocean Along N.C. Coas
Sandbags No Longer to Hold Back Ocean Along N.C. Coas

A state decision to enforce a coastal regulation requires property owners along the North Carolina coast to remove sandbags from land threatened by the creeping Atlantic Ocean.

State officials argued that the implementation of the regulation only honored the intent for sandbags to be temporary guardians against the Atlantic. But homeowners said the loss of the protection of sandbags will ensure the destruction of their homes, many of which are retirement investments.

"This is going to be catastrophic for the homeowners, for the state, for everybody," said Yogi Harper, the owner of both a beach house protected by sandbags and a business that installs them.

Harper said his company runs a marathon race against Mother Nature, and he complained that the state's decision to change its rules now is short-sighted.

"It's like running the Daytona 500," Harper said. "Everybody lines up at the beginning, and they run 450 miles in forward. Then they put it in reverse and run the last 50 in reverse."

The state, however, passed the regulation in part due to public opinion about sandbags, said Mike Lopazanski, policy analysis manager in the state Division of Coastal Management.

"The commission started to receive some complaints from the public that they were unsightly, there were these massive walls," Lopazanski said. "That's when they really nailed down the temporary nature of the sandbags."

Owners may need to remove sandbags from around 100 homes in Dare County this spring, state officials said.

"The commission feels enough time has passed, that it's time to enforce the rules as they are written," Lopazanski said.

Sandbagged houses will need to be moved or they will most likely be lost to the sea. That's the case at the Riggins' Condo complex in Kure Beach, where beach re-nourishment is not an option due to an environmental issue.

Bob Rickavaugh said he's struggling to save his beach house in Nags Head. In 2001, the state granted him a temporary permit to stack sandbags in front of his house until the beach could be rebuilt.

Voters turned down funding beach re-nourishment, however, and he must remove the sandbags from Thursday, per the state's regulation.

"I've owned this since 1989," Rickavaugh said. "When I bought it, there was a road in front and 30 feet of dune in front of that. Now there is nothing in front of it, except the sandbags protecting the house."

He is among many homeowners who use the rental income from these beach houses to fund their retirement, Rickavaugh said.

"When I bought this back in '89, I thought it was a good investment property," he said. "That is a good part of my retirement. I depend on that house."

State inspectors will visit each site to determine where sandbags may stay and which will go. Rickavaugh said he and other homeowners might fight to keep their sandbags.

"I think it should be a class-action lawsuit against somebody, probably the state," Rickavaugh said.

RELATED TOPICS: Dare County

e-mail print friendly

37 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 37 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
evidently these people never built a sand castle at the high tide mark... any child who has will tell you what the end result will be. I would strongly suggest this exercise in futility for the Army Corps of Engineers and all of these homeownwers, then as them why they think they shouldn't have to pay for their own stupidity

Applejuice, I think it's to the homeowner's advantage to move the house to recoup some of the cost than to let it fall in and get nothing. I think town administrators would gladly take the house, move it, sell it and make money. Hey, I think there is a business opportunity here.

Southern Fried, soil on the beach????

Desalinization and the bible have nothing to do with this story - but this link should explain why its not cost effective right now. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/drinkseawater.html

either way, the ocean will not stop. those sandbags and those homes are temporary. anyone that buys a beach house understands and assumes the risks. some people buy houses a row or two back, full knowing that one day they will become beachfront homes.

Have you ever seen the prices of these typical beach houses? Ever tried to rent one? CLearly this is a 'rich mans game', so don't fall for the 'funding my retirement' emotion. And,they're doing battle with Nature, which always wins eventually. I don't think the State (thus you and me) should be in that battle, nor sympathetic to their plight.

So many of the comments show no mercy to these people. I agree about building on the sand though. Yes, the Bible talks about building the house upon the sand.

It's a shame that our politicians won't look at all that water for desalinization to help keep growth going here in the Triangle Area. 100 mil. gallons per day would not put a dent in the sea creeping toward the land-but it sure would make a difference up here. That would take thinking out of the box from our politicians and that's not going to happen!!!!!

View Comments VIEW ALL 37 COMMENTS
Report It

Multimedia

Click Here