And every year hurricanes, Nor'easters and even lesser storms wash some of those houses away. Now government scientists have developed a new map that shows the relative vulnerabilities of different stretches of Atlantic coastline to being inundated and battered by ocean waves during extreme storms. This effort aims to complement, not replace, storm surge maps. Mapping has been completed from the Virginia-North Carolina border south along the Atlantic coast of Florida. Work is under way along the Gulf of Mexico, with plans to complete the Northeast coast by early 2002.
Waves become taller and more damaging in such areas.
The mapping is a joint project of the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, using a specialized airborne mapping system developed by the space agency. As the aircraft flies along the coast, a laser altimeter scans a swath of coastline several hundred yards wide, picking up an estimate of ground elevation every few square yards. These surveys have been done before and after major storms for the past several years. Combined with aerial photos taken of the coast by the U.S. Geological Survey during the years, and traditional ground surveys, the measurements give scientists much better evidence for the ease with which sands will shift on any particular section of beach. Please read them.