Misquamicut Beach: Sand dunes pretty much gone after storm (Video)
When I was growing up, kids and families were separated into those who went to visit Connecticut shoreline and those of us who were cool and went to the “real” beach in Westerly, RI. (Got my dig in there…)
My family has roots tied to the beach community just to the west of Misquamicut State Beach, to the east at Dunes Park near the Weekapaug Breachway, and to the original Ocean House in Watch Hill. My dad, my aunt and my grandparents along with a bunch of other family members were around during Hurricane Carol in 1954 which devastated the beach area and wiped out many houses all the way up to Beach Road.
It’s somewhat obvious to those who know this spot, but the sand dune is GONE.
Sandy was not nearly as bad as Carol, but from the video presented below, it looks like most of the sand dunes have been pushed north into Atlantic Avenue and all the way up to 1st Street. The tidal surge pushed all the way up to 2nd Street.
Misquamicut State Beach and the pavilion are pretty much destroyed. For all of my life, I can remember arriving at parking lots in the area to an obstructed view. You had to walk up the dune to see the ocean. No longer, you can see the ocean from Atlantic Ave.
Here is some media video from Chris Walsh. I have some video from Fort Road in Watch Hill Village that I will try to post. All the dunes under and to the south of the cabanas have been washed out, temporarily providing boats in Watch Hill Cove an unobstructed view of the ocean to the south.
Hurricane Sandy – Misquamicut Beach (Part 2) from Chris Walsh on Vimeo.
5 Comments
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Ah, the hubris of man.? Does this event demonstrate the Biblical injunction against building on sand?
aw come on, we all know man’s spewing out carbon dioxide altered the jet streams and sent this thing straight to where there was the most economic activity!
?
hah, wait, it hit connecticut…
It’s really sad to see how the storm has devastated the beaches from N.E. to the mid-Atlantic. My thoughts are with the people who have lost so much and need support of any kind.
The dunes at my beach were washed away, too. At least, we will always have the memories stored away in our heads and hearts.
Carpenter Beach washed away a couple of years ago.? We went there many summers after Moonstone Beach was closed to the public in favor of the Piping Plovers and Charleston Beach was not an option after the cottage sold. Lot’s of good memories.
One of which does NOT include the frequenters of the nude beach at Moonstone — since gone (?). I learned quickly that a lot of people absolutely should NOT be seen naked! (Maybe I’m just not into horror.)
The joke was that the nudists were scaring the plovers into abstinence.
But, I do love the Rhode Island beaches. I blame AlGore.