OCEAN SHORES — The mayor of Ocean Shores has declared a state of emergency after recent big waves and high tides damaged giant protective sandbags that protect several houses and condos from beach erosion.
Mayor Crystal Dingler says she’s concerned that land behind the damaged sandbags will be undermined in future storms and the bluff will start falling off.
KIRO-TV reports she’s appealing to the state for help and to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps can only respond to an impending storm.
The city installed the giant sandbags called “geotubes” in the 1990s to protect the properties. Dingler says they were meant to be a temporary fix and they have lasted 15 years. She says there wasn’t enough money to come up with a permanent solution.
KOMO-TV says one of the mayor’s concerns is that damage to the protective bluff could affect low-lying areas of Ocean Shores.
The emergency declaration gives Dingler the power to make fixes quickly.
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