Over in Surf City, local government is looking for federal funding to build up beaches ravaged by erosion. If we don't rebuild our beaches, the tourists aren't going to come, and that's our livelihood. We've got more than a little sympathy for Kee's position. Surf City without tourists would be like Fayetteville without the Army. But their solution is doomed to fast failure.
Surf City wants to shovel sand against the tide.
The city sits on Topsail Island, a barrier beach. Like just about all barrier beaches, ocean currents wash its seaward side, carrying tons of sand and sediment from the north end of the island to the south. Which means that Surf City's beaches are eroding, while its neighbor, Topsail Beach, has growing beaches, since those currents are depositing some of that same sand and sediment there. Barrier beaches are not a good place to build permanent structures. The beach's natural defense against the relentless ocean is to flex, to move, to quite literally go with the flow.