Weekapaug, RI Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 1.7 miles west of Weekapaug, RI?
USGS's shoreline-change data puts this stretch, 1.7 miles west of Weekapaug, RI, at 0.12 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 1.2 feet over the last decade.
What "Weekapaug" 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 Weekapaug, RI, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 41.33, -71.79. USGS's New England / Mid-Atlantic assessment last surveyed this stretch through 2007-2009, computing the rate with its LRR method. Other US regions were surveyed in different years, sometimes decades apart, so this page states its own rather than implying one national vintage.
What 0.12 ft/yr means over time
Run 1.7 miles west of Weekapaug, RI's 0.12 ft/yr rate forward 25 years and it implies about 3 feet of further retreat, assuming nothing changes, which is exactly the assumption a seawall or nourishment project exists to break.
What backs this reading up
Averaging 61 separate transects produced this segment's rate, with 87% individually reading as erosion, rather than relying on any single survey line. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.11 ft/yr either side. Among the 1211 US coastal segments with a measurable trend, this one ranks 612 for erosion, 1 being the fastest-retreating coast in the dataset. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2010-1119. Grand Isle, LA sits at national rank 5 for erosion (21.03 ft/yr), one reference point among the 1211 scored segments, 1339 miles from here. Misquamicut, RI, 1.3 miles off, is the adjacent measured stretch, reading slight erosion at 0.15 ft/yr.
Weekapaug, RI on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.