What is occurring with Hurricane Dorian is the removal of sand from the beach. The sand has to go somewhere and it is deposited offshore in deep water in the ocean. The sand deposits are normally irretrievable. What occurs when recovery from the hurricane takes place is beach renourishment/replenishment. It is probably classified as "construction, but, it is done with sand. It is somewhat complicated, especially when contending with an ocean, but, there are methods that literally put the beach back in place. It is also very expensive to these communities. But, they value tourism and their residents, so the price is paid. Let's face it, the next hurricane will at least have a beach to erode rather than making landmass disappear and ultimately causing a change in geography.
There are measures to prevent beach erosion such as planting beach grasses and placing snow fencing to prevent loss of the dunes. The dunes sincerely do protect the beach and help reduce loss.
Beach erosion (click here) occurs when waves and currents remove sand from the beach system. The loss of sand causes the beach to become narrower and lower in elevation (Figure 1). Storm waves carry the sand offshore, depositing and storing the sediment in large sandbars. In weeks and months following the storm, the sand is returned to the beach by calm-weather waves. Because many states rely on beach-related tourism as a major source of revenue, beach erosion has become a serious concern for coastal counties throughout the United States. Beach erosion also threatens coastal properties and infrastructure, such as roads, homes, and businesses. A series of storms can cause significant retreat of the shoreline, leaving coastal property more vulnerable to future storms (Figure 2).
