(October 28th, 2012) - Nearly three quarters of the coast along
the Delmarva Peninsula is very likely to experience beach and
dune erosion as Hurricane Sandy makes landfall, while overwash
is expected along nearly half of the shoreline. The predictions
of coastal change for the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia
peninsula is part of a larger assessment of probable coastal
change released by the U.S. Geological Survey Friday. "Model
forecasts are run anew for each hurricane, as each case has
unique factors in terms of storm intensity, timing with respect
to tides, angle of approach, and must account for ever-changing
details of coastal dune configuration," said USGS Director
Marcia McNutt. "These models help us understand where emergency
management resources might be most needed." Overwash, the
landward movement of large volumes of sand from overtopped
dunes, is forecasted for portions of the east coast with the
projected landfall of the storm. The severity of overwash
depends on the strength of the storm, the he