Bad News

What follows is an article from the Cape Cod Times written by Denise Coffey who writes about business, tourism and other issues affecting Cape residents and visitors.  One wonders about whether this sort of storm damage is becoming the norm as we witness this and other world-wide damage caused by “unusually” severe storms likely the result of irreversible effects of human-induced climate change.  

Pope Francis has sounded the alarm many times about the effects of climate change. Current and near-future generations will suffer the consequences of our disregard of planet Earth – our gift from God. Am I an alarmist and lemming?  No, just a realist with eyes to see and ears to hear.  Perhaps as my consolation I can reflect on my role as a deacon who proclaims the Gospel at Mass - the Good News, not the bad.

(begin) DENNISPORT — Gina Eknaian couldn’t believe the damage wrought by Saturday’s storm. Cottage decks and staircases ripped away by the ocean. Debris littering the beaches. An oceanfront road inside Chase’s Ocean Grove destroyed by the tide action. 

“Even some of the rocks have moved,” Eknaian said in a telephone conversation Sunday. She was referring to the large stones — some weighing hundreds of pounds — used in the construction of jetties along beaches on Old Wharf Road. Eknaian and her husband have lived on Glendon Road for four years after turning a family cottage into a year-round home. She said she’s spent the last 59 years in the neighborhood. Never has she seen so much damage done by the ocean.  

“We normally get (storms) from the northeast, and we’re worried about Sesuit Harbor and the northside beaches, but the beaches on the south side are really taking a beating,” Dennis Police Department Lt. Peter Benson said in a call on Monday.  Benson referred to the last several storms with southerly winds that have hit the Cape. Those storms, and the astronomically high tides that accompanied them, have deposited sand in parking lots, washed away roads and left mountains of debris on the beaches.  

Gates to the West Dennis, Haigis and Glendon Road beaches will remain locked until the Department of Public Works can assess damage on Tuesday, Benson said.  Lighthouse Road near West Dennis Beach was closed on Saturday because of flooding. Damage was done to sea walls in front of private residences. Seaweed and shells were heaved onto West Dennis Beach. The stairs down to Haigis Beach from a parking lot were damaged. Debris was scattered on a beach owned by a private association at the end of Uncle Rolf Road.  “There were all kinds of stuff in there,” Benson said.  

Eknaian’s photos showed hay bales, lobster traps, white plastic chairs and pieces of wood washed onto beaches. Some cottages had decks but no staircases down to the beach. Several feet of sand at Glendon Road Beach had been washed away, she said. Eknaian found the damage so overwhelming she posted pictures on the Old Wharf Summer Dennis Port Facebook page.  Chase’s is a longstanding cottage community located right on the ocean. 

A row of tiny cottages lay a few hundred feet from a beach that’s marked off by a split rail fence. Those fence posts and rails have all been blown down. The narrow, paved, oceanfront road has been washed away.  So much sand was washed away at Glendon Road Beach that it exposed a huge cement structure. Eknaian estimated that about seven feet of sand had covered it before the storm. Jersey barriers put in place at the beach wall had tipped over toward the ocean. There’s now a long drop to the beach, Eknaian said. “I’ve been here my whole life, and I’ve just never seen this,” Eknaian said.  (end)

Deacon David Pierce