Numerous tropical storms and hurricanes have damaged the Texas coast in recent months, and these storms have very likely contributed to beach erosion, according to a Texas A&M University at Galveston expert.
Jens Figlus, professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering at Texas A&M-Galveston, said Texas has some locations with relatively high beach erosion rates, and the problem has been occurring for hundreds of years.
While data is still coming in from this summer’s storms, there’s little doubt that the issue has worsened in several areas of the Texas coast.
Any erosion would be bad. According to the Texas General Land Office, which governs Texas coastal issues, the average erosion rate along Texas’ 367-mile coastline is 4.1 feet per year. But 64 percent of the Texas coast is eroding at an average rate of six feet per year, and some locations are losing 30 feet a year.
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