Jamaica Beach, TX Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 1.2 miles west of Jamaica Beach, TX?
1.2 miles west of Jamaica Beach, TX: USGS's transects didn't pick up a trend here that beats the survey's own uncertainty. That's the majority case nationally, and for this stretch specifically it means the coast is holding, not that the data failed to find anything.
What this reading actually covers
This is a roughly 3.5-mile stretch of coast, not one address or parcel - USGS's own transects run every few hundred feet, but that's finer than any one property needs, so this page reports the stretch nearest Jamaica Beach, TX. Centered near 29.19°N, 95.00°W. The survey behind it runs to 2001, in USGS's Gulf of Mexico assessment, using the LRR method. Shoreline surveys aren't repeated every year, so this is the most recent long-term measurement USGS has published for this coast, not a live reading.
How solid is this number
117 transects feed this segment's number; 60% of them individually measured retreat. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.63 ft/yr either side. Taken at face value, this segment's raw -0.02 ft/yr reading would land it 747 of 1211 nationally - a number worth ignoring, since it's statistical noise rather than a real trend. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2004-1089. For scale: Bayport, NY, 1469 miles away, ranks 1083 of 1211 nationally for growth, 0.83 ft/yr. Jamaica Beach, TX, 1.9 miles off, is the adjacent measured stretch, itself no significant trend.
Jamaica Beach, TX on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.