Four months after Hurricane Matthew hit the coast, some local beach towns are still working to restore the beaches.

SOUTHEASTERN N.C. -- Hank Henry smiled as he watched his family play at the edge of the water on the beach in Oak Island. Behind him rose a makeshift dune, a fence planted firmly in front of it. The dune stretched in front of a few houses before dropping off sharply, flat beach on either side.

Oak Island and Ocean Isle Beach suffered some of the most drastic cases of erosion followingHurricane Matthew, which hit the area in October.

More than four months later, Oak Island, Ocean Isle Beach and other coastal communities are making strides toward restoring beaches impacted by the hurricane.

In Oak Island, the storm flattened dunes all along the beach.Homeowners have pulled sand out from under their homes as part of an effort to recreate the dunes.

The town is in the process of seeking proposals for a FEMA emergency dune restoration project, which entails placing thousands of cubic yards of beach fill on more than five miles of beach. Mayor Cin Brochure said the town will consider bids for the project in March and hopes to have the sand placed before the summer months.

While the town weaves through the process of restoring the dunes, Henry said seeing the beach after Hurricane Matthew was devastating and he hopes to see more work done on the beach soon.

"Somebodys got to step up and do something to renourish the beach," he said.

Brochure said the beach is always a "top priority" in Oak Island and the town is working on creating a long-term beach plan.

Except for the eastern end of Ocean Isle Beach, Mayor Debbie Smith said the beaches are doing fairly well.

The town is in the process of planning a terminal groin project for the east end. A 750-foot terminal groin would be installed east of Shallotte Boulevard to mitigate erosion along 3,500 feet of oceanfront shoreline west of the Shallotte Inlet.

While the town has received a Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) major permit from the Division of Coastal Management, Smith said the town is still waiting on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' approval of the project, which she expects soon.

In Sunset Beach, though the beach lost a significant amount of sand during the storm, Town Administrator Susan Parker said the beach is starting to build back.

The town is waiting for permits to begin work on the beach access at 10th Street and repair a single bulkhead.

Other than that our beaches are looking pretty good, she said.

Caswell Beach didnt experience a major washout, but Town Administrator Chad Hicks said it lost about 15 to 20 percent of beach sand.

We could be a lot worse, he said. Weve got a few skinny spots, but at least we dont have any threatened structures right now.

Hicks said he believes the Corps of Engineers will try to bring sand to the beach during the next dredging season.

Bald Head Island placed sand from a dredging project at the mouth of Bald Head Creek on the west-facing shoreline, which was the most impacted during the storm. However, Village Manager Chris McCall said the project had been planned before the hurricane.

Though Holden Beach did suffer some erosion, the towns $15 million beach nourishment effort, the Central Reach project, is in progress.The project will put about 1.3 million cubic yards of sand along four miles of beachfront.

Meanwhile in New Hanover County, though the beaches fared well during the storm, Layton Bedsole, the countys shore protection coordinator, said a known hot spot at Carolina Beach near the Carolina Beach Fishing Pier seemed to experience some of the most obvious relocations of sand.

Though the area hasnt recovered all the material taken into the near shore area, Bedsole said the area has mostly recovered.

In Pender County, Surf City Town Manager Larry Bergman said the town has started a beach bulldozing project designed to shore up and repair damaged dunes along the beach, which will take place until the end of March.

Bergman said the town is planning to pursue a Corps of Engineers project to bring in sand and rebuild the beach, though that project could be a few years down the road.

Reporter Makenzie Holland can be reached at 910-343-2371 or Makenzie.Holland@StarNewsOnline.com.

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