Tybee prepares for long-term solutions to climate change, erosion, storms

Thousands of beachgoers visit Tybee Island each year to take in the scenic views of Georgia's barrier islands. What they may not notice is the environmental engineering and planning all around them aimed at protecting Tybee Island from storms and a rising sea level.   

This year is slated to be another above-normal year for hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA predicts that through Nov. 30 the Atlantic region is likely to experience up to 21 named storms, which have winds of 39 mph or higher. 

NOAA estimates that six to 10 of these named storms could become hurricanes, and three to six of those could be major hurricanes, ranging from categories 3 to 5 with winds more than 111 mph. For places like Tybee Island, struggling with flooding, erosion and sea-level rise, planning goes far beyond emergency management.

COASTAL RESILIENCY

In November 2019, the City of Tybee Island and the University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant received a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to assess flood risks and potential adaptation solutions for the island’s low-lying marsh shoreline. Since then, those groups and local stakeholders have been shoring up protections on the island. 

Jill Gamble, coastal resilience specialist and public service faculty with the University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, has been working as a part of this coalition to prepare Tybee for the impacts of climate change. 

"The vision for the project is coming from the community, so as part of this project we’ve done a ton of outreach and engagement … making sure that we are talking about priorities with community members for what they would like to see their island look like for years to come," Gamble said.

Rising waters:Tybee's Back River neighborhood is ground zero for sea level rise, flooding

A technical advisory group comprised of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, nonprofits, local governments, as well as a residential advisory group made up of business owners and residents, are helping advise what kinds of adaptation measures they'd like to see on the island, whether it be living shorelines or seawalls.  

"People very much preferred green infrastructure" as opposed to infrastructure like cement seawalls, Gamble said. "They really cared about water quality and habitat. And they were willing to help fund it if needed."

Community support helps when approaching local governments, Gamble said. 

While many of the plans the group has are long term, such as stormwater system upgrades, changes small and large are already starting to crop up – elevated walkways onto the beaches help prevent erosion in the dunes, vehicle access points to the beach have been nixed since they have provided points of inland flooding in the past, and the Georgia Department of Transportation repaved U.S. Highway 80, raising flood-prone areas. 

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INLAND FLOODING

The goal of the Tybee’s overall coastal resilience project isn't only to batten down the hatches for the next hurricane or tropical storm. A need exists to create a sustainable infrastructure that supports the island during less-abrupt, but often more insidious, impacts of sea-level rise, such as sunny day flooding. 

The sea level at Tybee Island has risen about a foot since 1935, according to data collected by the tide gauge at Fort Pulaski National Monument. 

Since the sea level is growing higher, residents on Tybee are experiencing flooding even when there is no rain. 

“Most of the flooding from Irma came from the back river; it didn’t even come from the ocean,” said Alan Robertson of AWR Strategic Consulting, the firm that manages renourishment projects on Tybee. Particularly on the back river of Tybee Island, multiple times a year water fills the streets, and sometimes houses, with several inches of water. 

To learn more about where sunny day flooding is affecting residents the most, and to optimize future plans to address it, Gamble said the coastal resilience project team has conducted geo-surveys with residents to crowdsource accurate information on flooding conditions.

COASTAL FLOODING

Tybee Island has “never been in better shape” headed into a hurricane season, according to Robertson. While the coastal resiliency project is improving conditions throughout the island, ongoing beach renourishment efforts have supported and reinforced the beaches and dunes.

In January 2020, Robertson said the Army Corps of Engineers conducted its most recent beach renourishment, where they take sand from the bottom of the ocean and, using large pipes, pump it onto the beaches and atop dunes, which Robertson said helps prevent erosion and flooding. 

The island has had regular beach nourishments courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers for the last 50 years, Robertson said. He said the corps plans for nourishments every 10 years, but recently it’s been closer to every five to seven years. 

More:More money for sand at Tybee: U.S. Senate committee advances beach renourishment act

This past nourishment, though, Tybee had a new partner in the project: Georgia Southern University. 

“We’re working with Georgia Southern University, which is doing a two-year monitoring of the vegetation,” Robertson said.

The dunes are an opportunity for researchers to observe the system from its inception, and Robertson said GSU’s research team was involved in deciding where to plant vegetation so the researchers can learn about how dune systems develop, how they withstand storms and flooding, and how better to keep them intact in the future.

All the efforts on Tybee Island go hand-in-hand to prepare for the impacts of flooding, erosion, and larger storms as they come. 

“There’s nothing we can do about a category 3 hurricane that hits us full-on,” Robertson said, “but you can lift your roads, install better pipes, add green infrastructure and things that help so when it does come, the effects won’t last long.” 

Marisa Mecke is an environmental journalist covering climate change. She can be reached at mmecke@gannett.com or by phone at (912) 328-4411.