One house was barely hanging on after a powerful nor’easter caused significant erosion on the beaches of Cape Cod. The homeowners have been worried a storm like what hit over the weekend could spell disaster.
Published Jan. 31, 2022 2:04 PM EST | Updated Jan. 31, 2022 2:04 PM EST
A winter storm that intensified into a bomb cyclone slammed areas from the mid-Atlantic to Maine over the weekend with heavy snow, whiteout conditions and hurricane-force winds, leaving a beachfront home in Cape Cod teetering in the precipice of destruction.
Among the eight states that felt the wrath of this storm, Massachusetts was one of the hardest-hit as more than 30 inches of snow fell in some parts of the state, and wind gusts near 100 mph were recorded.
Hurricane-force wind gusts were recorded across much of southeastern New England, and, in one town located on the northern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a wind gust of 99 mph was confirmed.
Truro, Massachusetts, is a 26.3 square-mile town that took on the brunt of the nor’easter. Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer reported from Truro during the storm and was standing along the shoreline at the height of the nor’easter's fury. Timmer captured footage of the storm as he was pelted by sand and snow as the harsh winds roared through the town on Saturday.
Timmer captured jaw-dropping photos and drone footage the day after the storm had passed, showing the significant erosion along the beaches that high tides and the nor'easter's fierce waves caused.
The nor'easter that charged up the East Coast left at least one beachfront home teetering on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, after heavy surf took a chunk out of the sand dunes in Truro, on the northern end of Cape Cod.
Among the most arresting of images were the photos and video showing a home along Ballston Beach in danger of collapsing due to the part of the beach on which it was built having been significantly washed away. The historic boathouse-turned-home is no stranger to coastal erosion but has never experienced something to this extent.
About 20 feet of the dune that the house sits on was washed out during a winter storm on Jan. 17, 2022, exposing three pilings under the house. After the storm, crews worked together to stabilize and reinforce the pilings, according to the Cape Cod Times.
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Photos taken by Nancy Bloom of the Provincetown Independent show the breathtaking amount of erosion that has occurred within the past year at this beach.
The house survived the most recent storm during the last weekend of January, but now six pilings are exposed, and time is ticking for homeowners to come up with a solution.
This photo was taken on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, during the erosion of a dune in front of a house at Ballston Beach in Truro, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Homeowners Tom and Kit Dennis proposed a plea to relocate the home to an adjacent property they also owned, CapeandIslands.org reported. While the Conservation Commission approved the planned move in August of 2021, officials on the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) said they weren't given enough time to consider the proposal's specifics.
If allowed, the ZBA is worried about the "unintended consequences" of allowing two single-family homes to share a lot on the National Seashore, including potential implications for septic use, occupancy and fairness to others in the neighborhood.
Satellite image of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1984 (NASA/Landsat)
Benjamin Zehnder, an attorney for the homeowners, said the homeowners would do whatever they can to protect the house and the environment, according to a report from WickedLocal.com.
Cape Cod is gradually narrowing, with an average natural erosion rate on the Atlantic Ocean side of 3.8 feet a year, according to NausetLight.org.
"Many people view coastal erosion as a problem that needs to be addressed and, if possible, prevented," wrote coastal geologist Robert Oldale of the U.S. Geological Survey, "however, storm and wave erosion along the shore of Cape Cod has been going on for thousands of years and will likely continue for thousands of years more. It is a natural process that allows the Cape to adjust to rising sea levels ... If we build on the shore, we must accept the fact that sooner or later, coastal erosion will take the property away."
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