September 18, 2008

Richard Watson is a local geologist who's become a recognized authority on coastal issues.  Dr. Watson has been studying the Texas coastline for over 40 years. The consulting coastal marine geologist told us that the dunes on Padre Island would have been the key to the island's survival if Ike had hit there.

Dr. Richard Watson has surveyed by air the damage done by the storm surge from Hurricane Ike. It took out a part of the dune system here  Whitecap beach entrance. **

Dr. Watson: "This is not a particularly strong dune at this location anyway and it eroded back further than it would have otherwise because the road cut is there to wash the sand into." Just down from Whitecap county workers were cleaning up the area near Bob Hall Pier with heavy equipment. The county has placed dozens of piles of sand along the shoreline. But Dr. Watson says that's a bad thing to do. He says the county shouldn't be placing sand out by the water's edge, instead it needs to go out here in the dunes because after all this is what's protecting the entire island.

"If Ike had hit here, these dunes would have helped protect the island. Down here the continental shelf gets deep a lot sooner so it can't push water up as high with the same size storm, and yes our dunes would have produced a considerable amount of protection because they're well vegetated in many places. They're natural; they've been here a longtime."