6 IslandVibesIOP.com NEWS healthy and robust beach.” Mike Gollobin is one. Since moving to Isle of Palms in 2014, he has watched nature push more menacingly into neighborhoods and the two golf courses. “We lost our par 5 18th hole on the Links Course seven-to-eight years ago and had to rebuild it, and then it washed out again within a year or two, and we had to convert it to a par 3,” he said. “In the last few years during many of the king tides, we’ve had to close down the 9th, 10th and 11th holes on Harbor Course because those holes are underwater. And for the last five or six years, we get a presentation at each community meeting about erosion control efforts because it’s become a recurring issue for us.” For some more than others, such as Jimmy Bernstein. When Bernstein moved from Chicago to Beachwood East in 2011, he and his wife did so partly because “this was where we wanted to be – right on the ocean.” But now the ocean is encroaching uncomfortably close – such that the tides have eaten away 15 feet of his ground level garage slab. “It used to measure 40 feet; now I am constantly worried about when other parts COASTAL COVERAGE SPECIALISTS 843.881-4707 | insureme@sigsc.com Mount Pleasant & Beaufort AUTO • HOMEOWNERS • CONDO • LIFE • WIND & HAIL • COMMERCIAL • FLOOD New Carrier Coastal Insurance Carrier Schirmer Insurance Group has access to a new coastal insurance carrier! Get top-tier protection for WIND, FLOOD, AND HURRICANES. Call now or visit SIGSC.com for A FREE QUOTE! SCAN TO LEARN MORE From Page 5 Shoal management projects of the house are going to be gone,” he said. “When I bought the house in 2011, none of this was happening. I had at least 50 yards of greenery, and then 50 more yards before you got to the ocean. Now that’s all gone.” When asked why he just doesn’t wait for the worst to happen, collect the insurance money and relocate to another beach, Bernstein said he only wishes it were that simple, as “damage on the first floor is not covered by insurance,” and he doubts he would get the full insurance value of the house. “Beach homes have high deductibles,” he said. “And in any case, I don’t want the insurance money – I’d rather have the house.” Along with current renourishment efforts, city leaders anticipate that major beach projects now need to occur every eight-to-10 years. What remains uncertain is whether they will be enough to stem the tides from eventually overtaking the island. “The city is pursuing a permit for another large-scale nourishment project, presently considered for 2027,” Traynum said. “The work along the east end is highly dependent on the pace at which the current shoal attaches to the beach; however, we are optimistic that the work being done will provide sufficient protection until that time.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjcyNTM1