Baxter Estates gets $8 million to fortify shoreline after coastal erosion

Shore Road in Baxter Estates was once so flooded that no one could tell where the street ended and the nearby beach began — not even a pair of swans, who began swimming on the road, Mayor Nora Haagenson recalled.

Because the Port Washington road is so low and close to Manhasset Bay, when it rains during high tide, the flooding is intense.

Village officials have watched the shoreline erode over the past decade, and have frequently had to close Shore Road. More than 8,000 cars travel the road every day, and recently, public works officials discovered damage to a section of the sea wall that props up the road. The coastal erosion has triggered mass confusion and panic among residents, village officials said.

But help is on the way: Earlier this month, the state awarded Baxter Estates $7.7 million to restore the shoreline. Haagenson, who had told anyone who would listen about the eroding shoreline, has new hope.

"The beach is undermined. Therefore you don’t have enough of a barrier on the beach to divert the water, so it floods the road," Haagenson said. "If there were an emergency, and you had to evacuate, it's almost impossible. If the road is flooded, how are you going to get off the peninsula?"

The issues plaguing Baxter Estates, which is bordered by Manhasset Bay, are not unlike other coastal towns grappling with rising sea levels. When rainstorms hit during high tide, they can trigger intense flooding. But what’s unique to the village of around 1,000 is the low elevation of one of its main thoroughfares. 

"The beach can actually go underwater and drown during storm surges," said Henry Bokuniewicz, a distinguished service professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. "That sand gets taken away from the back part of the beach, and it could be permanent."

Rising sea levels and pounding waves contribute to coastal erosion, when the shoreline sediment gradually disappears. Across the United States, more than 350,000 structures are within 500 feet of the ocean, posing an acute risk, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In the case of Shore Road, government officials have a particular problem. "If you have a road running along that stretch, or a beach house, or something like that, all of a sudden you’re in danger of erosion and losses," Bokuniewicz said.

Haagenson did not say how she plans to spend the money. The U.S. government spends approximately $150 million each year to stabilize shorelines. Structures such as sea walls, breakwaters and riprap are commonly employed. Replacing sand is often the go-to fix, but it's proved expensive and short-lasting. A superior defense is adding native plants and grasses that keep the sand in place, some experts say.

The level of urgency surrounding the shoreline intensified earlier this month when Nassau County’s Department of Public Works was installing a traffic light on the corner of Harbor Road and Shore Road. It was then that workers discovered the damaged sea wall.

Robert Del Muro, chief of the Port Washington Police District, estimated his department has had to close off Shore Road a "couple times" every year because of flooding. The police have set up barricades and had to call tow truck companies to remove cars caught in floods.

"It's usually a high tide, a bad storm and a full moon, and they come together, " Del Muro said. "It's a perfect storm. You get all three at once, and that road is going to flood over."

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.