Washout: Our vanishing beaches


Dude, where’s my beach?

The summer beach season is here, but the beaches themselves look very different this year. Coastal communities are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair shoreline damage from last winter’s severe storms. The damage is a warning sign to Rhode Island of the tough road ahead as climate-related sea level rise and increasingly heavy storms continue to swallow up the beaches.

Photographer Kathie Florsheim’s elegy to the vanishing shore

Kathie Florsheim wants you to understand just what’s happening to our eroding coastline. She’s not a scientist. She’s a fine art photographer who’s been photographing beaches in the region for about 50 years.

MORE FROM WASHOUT: Our vanishing beaches

Newport’s only public beach is eroding. Should the city save it?

As structures like the carousel and snack bar building are being demolished at Easton’s Beach, city officials are grappling with how to save an eroding beach.

‘That conversation is coming’: South Coast towns may consider managed retreat, green infrastructure in response to rising seas

Beach erosion and extreme flooding are forcing South Coast officials to think more urgently about how to adapt to a rise in sea levels. New Bedford Light reporter Adam Goldstein joins Morning Edition host Luis Hernandez to discuss the many options under consideration.

Newport official says continued beach erosion could threaten the city’s water supply, way of life

“Can we renourish the beaches? Can we find a way to put back what’s been taken away over the years?” We talk with the city’s public services director about the ways Newport is grappling with the ongoing threat of coastal erosion.

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Alex Nunes

Bureau Chief and South County Reporter

Olivia Ebertz

Metro Desk Reporter

Joe Tasca

Producer, host