Nov 10, 2012 8:11 AM
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The deepest part of the breach that cut through the barrier island at Cupsogue Beach County Park during Superstorm Sandy doubled in width during the nor’easter that swept across the region on Wednesday and Thursday.
The main channel of the breach, which some are now calling “Sandy Inlet,” widened from about 150 feet to some 300 feet during the nor’easter. At low tide the breach inlet is now more than 10 feet deep and water is exchanging between Moriches Bay and the ocean at all times. At high tide the new inlet is about 1,000 feet wide.
State and federal engineers are surveying the Cupsogue breach, which is at the western end of Dune Road. It’s a haunting reminder of a similar breach nearby in the early 1990s that ultimately destroyed more than 100 homes in what is now the Village of West Hampton Dunes.
With that dark memory in mind, the State Department of Environmental Conservation has said it will close the breach immediately—as soon as contracted crews finish closing a similar breach on the other side of Moriches Inlet, in Smith Point County Park on Fire Island.
A DEC spokesperson said that closing the breaches is their top priority and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Suffolk County are expediting the necessary permits to use material dredged from the Intracoastal Waterway to fill in the cut in the barrier island.
“With the help of the Army Corps, we are taking the first step to fix those breaches,” DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said in a statement on Friday. “The state is prepared to allocate funds as quickly as possible ... to protect the bay communities, infrastructure and habitat.”
It still could be weeks before the breach at Cupsogue can be closed.
Folks, this scenario does not have a happy ending . . .
"To Everything There Is A Season."
Consider that "Nature" has a conscious mind, and that she, on occasion, INTENTIONALLY wants to remove brown tide from the bays.
What better way than to open the barrier beach to flush out the bays for 50 or 100 years?
Take the blinders off!
Won't be long before the mayor of WHD tries to claim the new island as his. . .
Now i know there ...more is a difference b/w Eastern Moriches and the new cut...but not much. I can also assure you that crappy brown water gets as far as Swordfish.
My non scientific mind thinks that the problem should be addressed in two ways: attack the cause and provide a cure. The cut may be a cure in the right spot
From what I've heard, the cut near Cupsogue will be closed sooner than later, but its size (and likely increase in size tomorrow/thursday from the storm) creates a ...more bit of a problem. The cut to the West of Moriches Inlet (@ Old Dock) is small and shallow and as of several days ago the County was already working on closing it and dredging the lost sand to deposit into a historic dredge spoil site.
There is a third cut that opened up in Bellport Bay at, ironically, "Old Inlet". While this inlet is not wide, it's quite deep even at low tide and as it is located within the FINS Wilderness Area, rumor has it that it will not be closed but rather monitored. Good for Bellport Bay and the Forge River for sure.
Also, for those of you interested, Google took new aerials from the southern tip of Jersey to Shinnecock (unfortunately they did not go all the way to Montauk). These images can be seen by googling, "Superstorm Sandra Crisis Map". You will need to manipulate the check boxes on the right hand side to get the correct layers to load.
I think you meant "Sandy" in your quotes above.
And they have gone all the way to Montauk now. When you get to the google.org map, click on "Post-Sandy Imagery" and select the stretches of coast desired. Incredible that this has all been done, some as recently as 11/4. Plus lots of other areas have been shot, including the Outer Banks of NC.
And as PBR points out, they have added Shinnecock to Montauk and lo and behold you can see the earth movers at work at Sagg Pond trucking the sand away. What does Freddy boy have to say abou that? You would think with a Nor'Easter looming (and currently thrashing us) the would have just built a giant dune in front of the pond or bath house or whatever... not carted the stuff away.
A growing environment.
I think its more accurate to say the building has served to try to PRESERVE the barrier beach in its current form like a snapshot when overwhelming natural forces are constantly trying to shift it. Its a losing battle though it will take a hit bigger than Sandy for people to realize you can't outspend ...more nature.
Let it be!
Nature will provide, if humans stay out of the way and don't meddle.
Let it be, and the sand will come.
No need to spend ANY money here IMO (unless of course certain leaders are addicted to spending money).