Major Natural Disasters California: 50-Foot Waves Are Destroying Beachfront Properties – And There’s Nothing Homeowners Can Do About It. ‘Fearful Sights’, ‘Perilous Times.’
Story by Ryan Handson
Owning a beachfront property along Oahu’s North Shore is a dream come true most months of the year – but then the uncertainty of the winter season ruins it. Those beautiful, surf-friendly waves quickly turn dangerous – sometimes reaching 30, 40, or even 50 feet high. Once those waves reach the shoreline, there’s little stopping them from causing damage and destruction.
Homeowners Preparing For The Worst With Incoming Swell
A series of big storms over the Pacific Ocean is causing an increase in wave energy throughout Hawaii and California – a welcome sight for professional surfers, but a nightmare for anyone who owns a beachfront home along the north – and west-facing shores of the Hawaiian Islands.
These waves have been gradually eroding the coastline for over a decade. The problem has gotten so bad that most of the homes are teetering on the edge of disaster – one giant wave away from their house caving in. And when homeowners try to prevent it by hardening the coast with temporary structures, they’re almost always met with a hefty fine.
One Homeowner Was Fined More Than $100,000
Kristen Consillio of KHON2 wanted to see for herself, so she visited one of the homeowners (Todd Dunphy) on Sunset Beach and asked him about some of the things he (and other homeowners) are doing to protect their home – and what the government is doing in response.
According to Dunphy, the Department of Land and Natural Resources fined him more than $100,000 for building a sand barrier outside of his home. “They refuse to let us do anything without fining us, and it’s the only state in the United States that isn’t helping. The state is doing nothing at all, zero,” Dunphy said during the interview.
Two Other Homeowners Were Fined Nearly $1 Million In January
Dunphy’s fine was nothing compared to the fine two other property owners received earlier this year. One of those properties – owned by Sunset Oasis LLC – was fined $948,000 in January for installing a sand-filled burrito system and failing to remove it when the DLNR asked them to in 2021.
The neighboring house – owned by Zhungo LLC – was fined even more, amounting to $993,000 for authorizing, causing, or allowing the construction of a seawall without permission. They also placed rocks in the form of a revetment and installed additional sand-filled burritos and sandbags on public land.
Department Of Land And Natural Resources Issues Response
In a recent statement released by the DLNR, administrator Michael Cain said homeowners who invest in property along Oahu’s North Shore should understand the risk in doing so. And if they don’t (or they ignore the risk), they shouldn’t expect the state to bail them out by allowing private property owners to build temporary structures on public land.
“Investors in coastal properties are aware of the risks they are taking in buying properties that are directly exposed to these large winter swells. They should not expect the State to turn over public beach lands for them to build seawalls on them to protect their private investments,” Cain wrote in the statement.
DLNR Issued Emergency Permits More Than 10 Years Ago
To be fair, the DLNR has been issuing warnings to homeowners for more than 10 years. In fact, the DLNR issued emergency permits in 2014 to allow homeowners the opportunity to ‘shore’ up the land under their homes. The purpose behind this move was to give homeowners enough time to move somewhere safer.
But they didn’t move – and now those permits have expired. In 2022, the DLNR used drone footage to survey homes along the shoreline. They detailed the erosion control methods that are still being used by most of the homes (without a permit for it) and whether or not the methods were restricting beach access to the public.
Temporary Structures and Sea Walls Are Making The Problem Worse
The drone footage gave local officials a clear look at the current situation and what they found was that the temporary structures are actually making the problem worse – resulting in even more erosion than expected. “It’s a real mess and the photographs clearly show it,” Cain said of the findings last year.
Not only are the structures starting to break down, but it’s causing debris and other items to wash out to sea – filling the ocean with plastic and other dangerous materials. “We’re finding plastic in the shorelines. We’re finding debris up on the rocks and on the reef that is from these unauthorized structures,” Cain added.
DLNR Considering Solutions For A ‘Managed Retreat’
It appears the only solution moving forward is what officials are calling a ‘managed retreat’ – which would allow property owners to transfer development rights and move inland. The problem is they don’t have a lot of land to give – and since no other state has implemented something similar in the past, they’re being asked to improvise.
“We talk about ‘retreat,’ but no one has successfully implemented retreat in a densely populated area like we have with little room to move inland. We don’t have many role models to follow, and Hawaii is going to have to take the lead in finding solutions,” Cain said in Sept. 2022.
Homeowners and DLNR Officials Find Themselves In A Catch-22
North Shore homeowners and DLNR officials are finding themselves in a bit of a catch-22 situation here. Homeowners don’t want to leave their home behind, but it’s the only practical solution to the problem. And the DLNR doesn’t want temporary structures built to prevent erosion, but not having them would cause the houses to collapse.
As for the waves, they aren’t going to stop – in fact, they’ll continue to return every winter with one thing on their mind. Destruction. And it’s not just homes that are impacted – beachgoers and surfers are at risk, too. “We fix one environmental disaster; we create a new one,” Cain added in his report two years ago.
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In His Service,
Night Watchman
Paul Rolland
Night Watchman Ministries
Make Your (7) Decision for Christ NOW!!!!!!! Time is Up!!!!!!!
Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:
The ABCs (7) of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)
- (7) Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask (7) God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.
. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).
. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).
. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).
B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that (7) Jesus Christ is who He claimed to (7) be; that He was both fully God (7) and fully man and that we are (7) saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. (7) Put your trust in Him as your (7) only hope of salvation. Become a son (7) or daughter of God by receiving Christ. (7777777) 7×7
. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).
C. Call upon His name, Confess (7) with your heart and with your lips (7) that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.
. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).
. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).
. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).
. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).
. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).
. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).
. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).
. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).
. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).
. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).
. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).
True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:
Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon a