The feeling of being on the beach is never complete without playing on the beautiful sand of the shoreline. The sand is like a soft cushion that we can toss and fall playing on it all day but due to long drift or erosion, the sand is lost back to the sea. Apart from recreation service the wider beach provides a surf zone that dissipates energy across protecting the upland coastal structures from tsunamis, storm surges, and the unusually high tides.
It’s the federal government to pick up the duty of replenishing the beaches. Like the central government, it has an obligation of protecting its people against natural hazards that can be prevented. A wider strip of the beach plays a significant role as a sacrificial buffer that absorbs much of the wave energy. In the case of a natural disaster like a tsunami the government has to compensate the adjacent community for the damage incurred. Assessing the damage cost, it is more economical to pay for the precaution measure of replenishing the beach. Though some might point out the replenishing project as one for the wealthy, the plan seems to make economic sense to tourism-dependent community or area.
The beach community is usually faced with natural hazards that require mitigation strategies that would protect the locals and also encourage development planning. To counter these natural hazards, it is best first to undertake pre-event measures that involve data collection and analysis that helps to understand the disaster and reduce vulnerability. Secondly using the data collected, predict when and how intense the disaster might be to come up with emergency preparedness (alert, monitoring, evaluation). Thirdly, strategize on measures to undertake during and immediately after natural disasters such as rescuing and relief. The final stage which is post-disaster measures has to involve rehabilitation of the affected community back to their normal lives and reconstruction of the damaged property.
Works Cited
Beach Replenishment: Dredging International. Zwijndrecht: Dredging International, 1984. Print.
Etkin, David, Chowdhury Emdadul. Haque, and Gregory Robert Brooks. An Assessment of Natural Hazards and Disasters in Canada. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2003.
Kunreuther, Howard, and Adam Zachary. Rose. The Economics of Natural Hazards. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Pub., 2004
Beach Restoration: A State Initiative. Tallahassee, FL: Dept. of Natural Resources, 2008
