Hurricane Sally: Erosion a top concern for those on Alabama's Dauphin Island

Dauphin Island’s average elevation is about seven feet. Storm surges of six to nine feet — forecast for Hurricane Sally — could start a familiar script. 

The island off the Alabama coast is divided into a west end and an east end. The east end of the island has protection from dunes anchored by pine trees. The west end, where several expensive homes sit, does not. 

“Obviously there’s going to be a lot of erosion,” said John Valentine, the director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, in an interview on Tuesday. “The areas not well protected by berms and sand dunes, those are going to be areas that are going to see some damage.”

Erosion has been a fact of life on Dauphin Island since the late 1950s, and past storms have done major damage. In 1979, Hurricane Frederic destroyed a causeway to the island, requiring ferries to transport people for three years afterward. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed hundreds of homes and bisected the island, creating a “Katrina Cut” that wasn’t filled in until 2011. 

George Crozier, a retired director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, said the west end of the island could be underwater during the storm, repeating a scene that has been familiar on the island for decades. In 2000, Crozier said, he rented a house on the very western end of the island for a weeklong celebration.

“That lot is now two lots out into the water,” he said. (Zillow, a real estate web site, lists Dauphin Island lots that are underwater.) 

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The storm could erode the beaches, said Valentine and Crozier, and push sand from the western end of the island toward the north. Crozier said Dauphin Island might not sink into the ocean, but gradually shift north. 

“It’s like you took a hose and washed dirt on your driveway, and it’s all headed north,” he said.

The cycle could continue for several years. Houses on the west end of the island are an important revenue source for the town, and the west end has been rebuilt after every major storm. (An email seeking comment was sent to Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier on Tuesday.) 

The timing of the storm could also affect the damage that the island sees, said Valentine. 

“The surge is going to be dependent on when this comes ashore,” he said. “If it comes ashore from 7 to 10ish in the morning, it’s going to come in at high tide. That means the surge will be a lot higher than it would if it came in at low tide.”

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman at 334-240-0185 or blyman@gannett.com.