The punishing surf has apparently diminished on the North Shore for now, allowing beleaguered Rocky Point homeowners to take temporary actions to fortify their wave-eroded properties. But the window for such work may be narrow, as the surf is expected to rise again by the weekend.
"The good news is the surf has subsided," said Sam Lemmo, administrator of the state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands. "The bad news is that four residences are in imminent danger. Two are hanging over the sand scarp, and two are right on the edge."
One property owner has cut off part of his home to avoid exposing the whole building to catastrophic failure.
"It’s a tenuous situation out there," Lemmo said Tuesday.
For now at least three homeowners on the stretch of coast north of Sunset Beach Elementary School were given state permission to place sandbags in front of their properties. Lemmo was at the Ke Nui Road site Tuesday providing homeowners with assistance and guidance on how best to protect their properties within the law.
Friends, family members and neighbors continued to help owners cope with the erosion that arrived with last week’s powerful westerly swell.
Also, today the City and County of Honolulu Departments of Emergency Management, Facility Maintenance, and Parks and Recreation will clean up debris on Sunset Beach. The operation is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and could last the entire day. Motorists are advised to avoid parking at Sunset Beach, and to expect delays and heavy traffic due to the need for heavy trucks and equipment.
In all, about a dozen homes have been affected along Ke Nui Road near Rocky Point by erosion since October.
No one knows exactly why this beach is experiencing such dramatic sand loss from this latest episode of high surf, Lemmo said, but he added it’s clear the coastline is the victim of a chronic problem in which the shoreline is starved of sand, due in part to the building of sea walls along the shore.
In October, the state gave authorization for a homeowner to move sand from one section of the beach to the part in front of his home and it seemed to be an effective method for him, he said.
No emergency funding or labor is available to private homeowners facing the crisis. The state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands is the lead agency in such situations, but its mandate is protecting beach resources.
Lemmo said some homeowners are using tarps as an inexpensive yet fairly effective way to protect their exposed embankments. "It seems futile but it actually helped somewhat," he said.
State Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua) said he called Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Sunday and left him a message urging him to consider sending some kind of help to the North Shore residents. He said he suggested sending the National Guard, although he conceded he isn’t sure what circumstance would trigger such a move.
"Trying to deal with Mother Nature is a very daunting task," Hee said. "I’m not sure what can be done realistically other than to assist with the evacuation."
One thing to avoid is building a bunch of sea walls because that will lead to even more armoring of the shoreline and beach loss, he said.
Hee said unfortunately we can expect more of the same as global warming accelerates sea-level rise.
"What concerns me is this may be an ominous pattern that may be emerging every winter."
State Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kailua-Kaneohe) agreed, and that’s why she’s authored a bill asking Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui to convene a climate change round table of private and public officials, leaders and experts to discuss related issues, including sea-level rise and shore erosion.
"Everyone’s acting as if this is not going to affect us," Thielen said. "Some people have got to realize if you keep putting your head in the sand, pretty soon that sand’s going to be underwater."
