CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There's been a lot of changes along our beaches over the many years as one storm after another has altered its look.
The County is working on getting permits and grants to be able to widen its beaches, while the City was out Wednesday doing that work.
3NEWS took a look at our shoreline with local expert Deidre Williams with the Conrad Blucher Institute, who specializes in studying the changes that take place along our beaches.
". . . This is a really great example of how extensive the dune damage has been along the coast," Williams told 3NEWS while looking at the dunes at Padre Balli Park. "This is like a 18 to 20 foot tall dune and what happened was the waves undercut the base of the dune that you could normally walk up -- of course you’re not supposed to do that."
She pointed out that our beaches are the first line of defense against storms and that widening them should be a top priority.
"The first layer of protection is our beach," Williams said. "The wider our beach is it buffers the increasing waves, increasing water level and surges. It reduces the energy.”
The county-owned beach at Padre Balli Park has eroded away and now old wooden posts and concrete slabs have emerged.
"The erosion during Alberto increased the erosion along the area fronting Padre Balli Park where Bob Hall Pier has been in the past and the plans for the future, exposing the remnants of former infrastructure that was along the beach," she said.
Our dune system is what holds back most stormwater events, but much of it has been washed away and now the dunes have been turned into tall cliffs.
"We anticipate it will take 11 years for this area to recover without additional storm damage, so the clock hasn’t started on those 11 years yet," Williams said.
City work crews near Whitecap were busy widening the beach there. Williams said this work will go a long way in reducing the strength of the next storm surge event.
"It’s all part of helping regain the width of the beach so we can basically host more people on this very popular stretch," she said.
A young visitor showed 3NEWS a hermit crab she found on the beach and her mom, Anna Mallet said she appreciated the City’s efforts.
"We come down from Austin generally a couple of times a year, so we love what they’re doing," Mallett said. "We love the fact that the city is taking such an interest in keeping everyone safe."