Hurricane overwash fan and houses

Figure 12. The overwash fan from Hurricane Floyd covers this residential lot. (Photograph by the author. More about the photograph)

Figure 12 shows some of the sand that was washed off the beach on Oak Island by Floyd. As we saw in the photos of Masonboro and Topsail Islands shown in Figures 6 and 7, some of Oak Island’s beach sand ended up in an overwash fan landward of the original dune line. It is shown here adding elevation to a lot landward of the shore road. Is this the sand that should be returned to the beach? How would you feel about that question if you were the person who owns the lot where it is now?

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