Nor’easter clobbers South Beach

Big waves whipped up by a lingering nor’easter have pummeled South Beach at Right Fork, and flooded Atlantic Drive and adjacent areas.

“The last time I can recollect it being that high was Hurricane Bob,” Edgartown town administrator James Hagerty said Tuesday.

“The loss of sand on that beach is just incredible,” Sam Hart, Vineyard and Nantucket director for The Trustees of Reservations, added. 

At Left Fork, gateway to the Norton Point seashore managed by the Trustees, Hart said, there was “considerable overwashing into the herring run,” but the shoreline “certainly weathered it better than Right Fork. 

Hart said overwash at Left Fork is “something we’ve been dealing with for months, if not years.” He said a major dune restoration in the area is slated for 2022. 

Hart said the recent storm was nothing major, but nevertheless “there was a lot of wave energy coming up from the south …” 

The Trustees have closed Norton Point due to erosion and trail flooding, and have also closed the Dyke Bridge on Chappaquiddick, he said.

Hart expressed optimism water and erosion won’t adversely affect the birds on Norton Point this winter, such as snowy owls and northern harriers. “The birds are fairly resilient this time of year,” he said.

As for the birds returning in the spring — oystercatchers, piping plovers, and least terns — he forecasted a mixed bag for how they’ll deal with such landscape changes. “These events have a way of altering the habitat that might present opportunities for some birds and some barriers for others,” he said. This could translate into birds finding new nesting sites, he said.

Hagerty said for now, the town aims to keep Atlantic Drive closed. He said a plan is in the works to relocate a bathhouse so it’s less susceptible to erosion. He also noted $50,000 is on the annual town warrant for South Beach dune restoration. 

In Oak Bluffs, it was apparent that sand and stones were washed onto Beach Road and had to be pushed to the shoulder by town highway crews.