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Looks like Ivan could provide some new treasure!
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Group: Ivan Damaged Gulf Barrier Islands
Sun Sep 19, 6:51 AM ET Add Science - AP to My Yahoo!
By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Ivan's storm surge and pounding waves swamped the barrier islands that stand guard along the central Gulf of Mexico coast, eroding their protective sand and causing millions of dollars in damage, coastal experts said.
AP Photo
"Every indication right now is that this was a very serious event in terms of changes to the coast," said Abby Sallenger, an oceanographer with the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record), D-Fla., flew over the barrier island off Pensacola on Friday.
"All of the dunes are gone," Nelson said. "All of those sugary white beaches and the dunes have been washed over the entire barrier island."
Barrier islands run parallel to the mainland and are built up by waves and currents. They buffer the mainland against storms, provide wildlife habitat and draw tourists to their sandy beaches.
They are beloved spots, some of them — like Dauphin Island off the Alabama coast — large enough to accommodate condominiums and communities. Other, like the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana, serve as nesting colonies for pelicans.
But they stand only a few feet above sea level and Ivan's storm surge drowned most of the islands from eastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
"The Chandeleur Islands were hammered," said Shea Penland, a barrier island expert with the University of New Orleans.
Entire sections of this arc of islands off Louisiana's southeast coast were under water on Saturday and the sea freely rushed through breaches in sand dunes — as though Ivan dragged a rake through them.
Streams of island marsh grasses floated off into the Gulf and layers of displaced sand covered marshes at the interior and backside. From the air, the contours of land could be seen under the green Gulf.
A historic lighthouse on the northern tip of the Chandeleur chain stood far out in water.
"I have pictures of that lighthouse standing on land, and birds flying all around," said Mark Kulp, a University of New Orleans coastal researcher.
Ivan's storm surge covered some of the lower islands with 6 feet of water or more, and its waves pushed and scraped away their sand, Sallenger said.
"Some of the sand from the beaches will be driven across the islands and driven into the back bays, into the sound. This is part of the classic pattern of migration for barrier islands," Sallenger said.
Unlike the barrier islands along the rest of the Gulf, Louisiana's are viewed more for their protective value than recreational use.
Louisiana's islands slow down storms, which could devastate the state's already dwindling wetlands and low-lying cities, and state and federal agencies have spent millions of dollars to save the islands.
"They're not only the first line of defense, they are also speed bumps for hurricanes," Penland said.
Even though Ivan did not hit Louisiana directly, its path toward Alabama took it close to the mouth of the Mississippi and Penland said it inundated the Chandeleur Islands, Isle Derniere and Plaquemines islands.
Since the early 1990s, over $34 million has been spent to rebuild the islands' dunes and beaches and replant mangroves and cordgrass. The work is meant to stem the steady breakup of Louisiana's islands, some of which have lost 60 feet a year in the last 120 years. At least nine restoration projects will need millions of dollars of upkeep, Penland said.
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Group: Ivan Damaged Gulf Barrier Islands
Sun Sep 19, 6:51 AM ET Add Science - AP to My Yahoo!
By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Ivan's storm surge and pounding waves swamped the barrier islands that stand guard along the central Gulf of Mexico coast, eroding their protective sand and causing millions of dollars in damage, coastal experts said.
AP Photo
"Every indication right now is that this was a very serious event in terms of changes to the coast," said Abby Sallenger, an oceanographer with the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record), D-Fla., flew over the barrier island off Pensacola on Friday.
"All of the dunes are gone," Nelson said. "All of those sugary white beaches and the dunes have been washed over the entire barrier island."
Barrier islands run parallel to the mainland and are built up by waves and currents. They buffer the mainland against storms, provide wildlife habitat and draw tourists to their sandy beaches.
They are beloved spots, some of them — like Dauphin Island off the Alabama coast — large enough to accommodate condominiums and communities. Other, like the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana, serve as nesting colonies for pelicans.
But they stand only a few feet above sea level and Ivan's storm surge drowned most of the islands from eastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
"The Chandeleur Islands were hammered," said Shea Penland, a barrier island expert with the University of New Orleans.
Entire sections of this arc of islands off Louisiana's southeast coast were under water on Saturday and the sea freely rushed through breaches in sand dunes — as though Ivan dragged a rake through them.
Streams of island marsh grasses floated off into the Gulf and layers of displaced sand covered marshes at the interior and backside. From the air, the contours of land could be seen under the green Gulf.
A historic lighthouse on the northern tip of the Chandeleur chain stood far out in water.
"I have pictures of that lighthouse standing on land, and birds flying all around," said Mark Kulp, a University of New Orleans coastal researcher.
Ivan's storm surge covered some of the lower islands with 6 feet of water or more, and its waves pushed and scraped away their sand, Sallenger said.
"Some of the sand from the beaches will be driven across the islands and driven into the back bays, into the sound. This is part of the classic pattern of migration for barrier islands," Sallenger said.
Unlike the barrier islands along the rest of the Gulf, Louisiana's are viewed more for their protective value than recreational use.
Louisiana's islands slow down storms, which could devastate the state's already dwindling wetlands and low-lying cities, and state and federal agencies have spent millions of dollars to save the islands.
"They're not only the first line of defense, they are also speed bumps for hurricanes," Penland said.
Even though Ivan did not hit Louisiana directly, its path toward Alabama took it close to the mouth of the Mississippi and Penland said it inundated the Chandeleur Islands, Isle Derniere and Plaquemines islands.
Since the early 1990s, over $34 million has been spent to rebuild the islands' dunes and beaches and replant mangroves and cordgrass. The work is meant to stem the steady breakup of Louisiana's islands, some of which have lost 60 feet a year in the last 120 years. At least nine restoration projects will need millions of dollars of upkeep, Penland said.
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