Sargent, TX Coastal Erosion Rate
Shoreline change 7.3 miles southwest of Sargent, TX
USGS's shoreline-change data puts this stretch, 7.3 miles southwest of Sargent, TX, at 4.01 feet of erosion a year on average, a long-term rate for this specific ~3.5-mile section, not one storm's damage. At that rate, the shoreline has lost roughly 40.1 feet over the last decade.
What "Sargent" means on this page
USGS surveys the coast in transects spaced a few hundred feet apart; this page groups the nearest ones into a single ~3.5-mile reading for the stretch closest to Sargent, TX, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 28.73, -95.73. 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.
What 4.01 ft/yr means over time
Run 7.3 miles southwest of Sargent, TX's 4.01 ft/yr rate forward 25 years and it implies about 100 feet of further retreat, assuming nothing changes, which is exactly the assumption a seawall or nourishment project exists to break.
How solid is this number
46 transects feed this segment's number; 100% of them individually measured retreat. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.52 ft/yr either side. This segment ranks 72 of 1211 measured US coastal segments, ordered from fastest erosion to fastest growth. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2004-1089. Rank 230 nationally for erosion belongs to Port St. Joe, FL, 628 miles from this stretch, measured at 0.77 ft/yr, 0.2x this stretch's rate. 1.7 miles away, Sargent, TX is the nearest other measured stretch: severe erosion at 3.1 ft/yr.
One address near Sargent: the Coastal Change Hazards Portal zooms past this stretch to the underlying map.