Little Damage In Wake Of Coastal Storm

A rare September coastal storm brought the Lower Cape an early taste of fall weather, but little in the way of damage.

 The long-duration storm followed several days of northeast winds, eroding beaches, grounding a few boats and peppering streets and lawns with leaves and twigs. 

 While areas of Plymouth and Bristol counties received more than seven inches of rain — as did a rain gauge at Camp Edwards on the Upper Cape — the Lower Cape generally received two to three inches. Power outages were limited and localized on the Lower Cape.

 Winds were heavy at times between Friday and Monday, with a 70 mph gust recorded in Wellfleet. What fury the storm brought was spent mostly on the east-facing shoreline.

 “We had relatively minor damage given the amount of boats we have in the water,” Chatham Harbormaster Jason Holm said. Only six boats were damaged in Chatham during the storm, including a sailboat in Stage Harbor and a pleasure craft that ended up on the rocks near Claflin Landing. In Pleasant Bay, a boat on the Harwich side of Jackknife Harbor was swamped on its mooring.

 What remained to be seen early this week was the impact the storm had on the outer beach. At the height of the storm Saturday, the ocean could be seen washing over the barrier beach in several places, including a wide, low section of North Beach Island directly opposite Chatham Bars Inn. Surf pounded the outer beach for several days, driven by offshore waves that topped 17 feet. A sharp bluff appeared at the southern tip of North (Nauset) Beach, testifying to erosion there. Some mariners worried that the sand might cause shoaling in the North Inlet to Chatham Harbor. 

Holm said that later this week, crews would be out to check navigational buoys that might have been blown off station. Fortunately, boating traffic has begun to trail off for the season, he said.

On Monday, Chatham Coastal Resilience Director Catherine Ricks said she had not yet been to the outer beach to inspect the erosion, and an aerial survey will have to wait until the weather clears.

“I have been to a handful of east facing beaches/landings. I had some before pictures and the comparison shows minimal storm damage,” Ricks said. “A high wrack line was observed at a few sites so we can see the water came higher than normal and the erosion with that appears to be less than a foot, with accretion of wind-blown sand over by Cow Yard.”

Erosion is said to be significant on the east side of Nauset Beach, but the inner shore does not appear to have experienced much loss of sand, Chatham Health and Environment Director Greg Berman said.

The long-duration winds and high astronomical tides led to some minor coastal flooding in the usual places, but no damage was reported.

The approaching storm prompted many boat owners to haul their craft from area harbors late last week, but many boats remain in area mooring fields. In a precautionary move, the state closed shellfishing Saturday due to expected heavy rainfall, but shellfish harvesting was reopened at noon Monday.