Lake Michigan shoreline residents erect coastal defenses amid record-high lake levels

FERRYSBURG, MI -- Last fall the residential beachfront near North Beach Park was a mess of debris and storm-carved dunes encroaching on homes.

Now it’s an unbroken embattlement of boulders ready for the next big storm.

Shoreline residents in West Michigan are continuing to erect sea barriers and move their homes further inland as experts project Lake Michigan to keep at record heights and swallow even more property this year.

Nick Bonstell, director of the Ottawa County Emergency Management, said residents are much more prepared for dune-swallowing storms now than last year, when three big fall storms atop near-record lake heights shrank dune property and toppled some Lake Michigan shoreline homes down bluffs.

Read more: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2020/04/lake-michigan-shoreline-residents-erect-coastal-defenses-amid-record-high-lake-levels.html