Nantucket’s Impossible Sunset & Nightmare

“Don’t Cry For Me, Nantucket” might be the hit song’s title as the rich island’s beachfront residents bemoan ocean erosion threatening to swallow their $4-$6 MILLION homes & try to swim away from $3.6 BILLION in projected damages.

The ”Jaws” like horror story is captured in the WSJ article titled, “The Race to Save Nantucket’s Homes From Falling Into the Ocean.” It seems the hoi paloi on the Massachusetts island’s south side are “grappling with the threat of erosion and its impact on property values.” That’s surely an understatement, unlike the shark movie scripts it conjures up. Call the film with Nantucket’s compelling scenery to play in local theaters only, “Waves”? To the homeowners, of course, it’s no joke. Explains the article: “The land around the meandering road on the [island’s] south shore has ceded about 10 feet a year to the water for decades, claiming roughly half a dozen homes since the early 2000s.” Now, erosion is threatening to take more, especially when high winds during the many storms drive battering waves relentlessly against the sandy beaches and homes ... we’re told up to 200 feet of beach can disappear in one night.

We’re also told that the Nantucket experience is a “microcosm” for other coastal communities in their inevitable struggle with nature. On the other hand, average folks might not be able to muster up as much sympathy for such wealthy landowners who certainly knew and know the elemental risks of enjoying that unmatched sunset. As it happens, I recall this same dire call for help over 40 years ago when I visited & toured Nantucket. I saw the same exorbitant home prices. Same erosion issue, too. And, I wondered, even with the magnificent sunsets, who would want to put themselves in such an obviously impossible situation?

Davd Soul