Impacts to Coastal Beaches and Barriers U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2013–3090

October 2013

Start with Science to Build Safer Communities

Hurricane Sandy Science Plan—Coastal 

Impact Assessments

“The understanding we gain from these studies will set the stage for better models addressing 

future hazard scenarios and will help coastal communities be better prepared to withstand and 

respond to catastrophic storms.”—Suzette Kimball, U.S. Geological Survey Acting Director

Meeting the Science Needs of the Nation in the Wake of Hurricane 

Sandy—A U.S. Geological Survey Science Plan for Support of 

Restoration and Recovery

Hurricane Sandy devastated some of the most heavily populated eastern coastal 

areas of the Nation. With a storm surge peaking at more than 19 feet, the powerful 

landscape-altering destruction of Hurricane Sandy is a stark reminder of why the 

Nation must become more resilient to coastal hazards. In response to this natural 

disaster, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) received a total of $41.2 million in 

supplemental appropriations from the Department of the Interior (DOI) to support response, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. These funds support a science plan 

(Buxton and others, 2013) that will provide critical scientific information necessary 

to inform management decisions for recovery of coastal communities, and aid in 

preparation for future natural hazards. This science plan is designed to coordinate 

continuing USGS activities with stakeholders and other agencies to improve data 

collection and analysis that will guide recovery and restoration efforts. The science 

plan is split into five distinct themes:

Oblique aerial photographs of Seaside Heights, 

New Jersey, before and after Hurricane Sandy 

impacts shows coastal change on a developed 

coastline.

Theme Stakeholders

Emergency responders and coastal managers need assessments of the potential impacts of 

past and future storms on coastal beaches and barriers, access to credible forecasts of the effects 

of recovery and mitigation actions and future development on coastal vulnerability and resilience, and knowledge to identify areas most vulnerable to impacts of storms to effectively direct 

response and recovery resources and guide long-term planning to enhance coastal resilience. 

• Coastal topography and bathymetry

• Impacts to coastal beaches and barriers

• Impacts of storm surge, including disturbed estuarine and 

bay hydrology

• Impacts on environmental quality and persisting contaminant 

exposures

• Impacts to coastal ecosystems, habitats, and fish and wildlife

This fact sheet focuses on assessing impacts to coastal beaches 

and barriers.
Pre Sandy

0 200 300 METERS 100

0.46 >8.00

Elevation, in meters

Post Sandy

0 200 300 METERS 100

0.46 >8.00

Elevation, in meters

Coastal Impact Assessment Projects

The Nation’s coast is fringed by beaches, dunes, barrier 

islands, wetlands, and bluffs. These natural coastal barriers 

provide the first defense to storm impacts and are critical factors 

to assessing the vulnerability of adjacent lands, waters, living 

resources, and people. The ability of these barriers to provide 

critical benefits and services, and to mitigate the impacts of 

future storms, erosion, and sea-level rise, are critical determinants of storm impacts and should inform decisions on recovery 

and rebuilding. 

Barrier islands line about one-half the U.S. coast, including 

most of the region impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The evolution of these landforms is affected by natural processes, human 

development and other actions, natural trends such as climate 

change and sea-level rise, and storm events such as Hurricane 

Sandy. From North Carolina, through New York and Massachusetts, Sandy’s waves and surge eroded and overtopped 

protective dunes and beaches. They transported sand (overwash) 

inland across roads, wetlands, and breached barrier islands, 

thereby isolating communities. The post-Sandy barrier system 

is vastly different than that which existed prior to the storm. The 

“new” barrier landscape that will determine our vulnerability to 

future storms is yet to be established and will depend largely on 

recovery and rebuilding actions taken in the coming months and 

years. The USGS has a sustained national program to understand 

and forecast the vulnerability of coastal beaches, wetlands, and 

barrier islands to storm impacts and the other factors that affect 

their evolution.

Coastal Mapping Products and Impact Assessments

The USGS aims to provide pre- and post-storm mapping 

of coastal impacts and vulnerability through the use of airborne 

lidar flights and photographic surveys, and will develop digital 

interpretive products that document coastal changes, including 

overwash, beach loss, habitat modification, channel migration, 

and elevation change. These mapping efforts can provide these 

interpretive products to aid response and recovery operations. 

Impacts to and Vulnerability of Coastal Beaches

The USGS will evaluate, improve, and deliver coastal 

impact forecast models. Using these forecast models, the USGS 

will be able to provide critical information to identify areas 

vulnerable to extreme erosion during landfall. Using post-Sandy 

lidar elevation data and forecasts of waves and surge, the USGS 

will provide updated vulnerability assessments of future impacts 

to Northeast and mid-Atlantic beaches. 

Coastal Hazards Information and Decision Support 

Portal

The USGS aims to provide online access and delivery 

of coastal impact assessments and data. USGS scientists and 

software engineers will create an online portal for data and tools 

to assess coastal change vulnerability and apply USGS data and 

analyses to immediate and specific needs. The online portal will 

provide direct access for coastal stakeholders to assessments of 

potential storm and sea-level change impacts on the Nation’s 

coasts, as well as tools to assess rates of shoreline change and 

probabilities of erosion during storms. 

For more information:

Buxton, H.T., Andersen, M.E., Focazio, M.J., Haines, J.W., 

Hainly, R.A., Hippe, D.J., and Sugarbaker, L.J., 2013, 

Meeting the science needs of the Nation in the wake of 

Hurricane Sandy—A U.S. Geological Survey science 

plan for support of restoration and recovery: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1390, 26 p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/

circ/1390/.

• http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1390

• http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hazard-events/sandy/

Pre- and post-storm elevation maps of Fire Island, New York.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists taking an acoustic measuring 

flow velocity profile in new inlet formed during Hurricane Sandy on 

Fire Island, New York.