Texas's front line in the battle against coastal erosion and sea level rise.

Sargent, Texas is a great little community, maybe the last place in Texas that people who are not rich, can still afford a place on the water. Its quiet, has great fishing, and is known for it's laid back, coastal vibe. Its also the place on the Texas coast suffering the most rapid beach erosion, and perhaps most at risk from sea level rise. Ever since changes were made to the rivers that used to bring a steady supply of sand to build up the coast, the beaches have been retreating. Once they stopped being built up, they have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Sargent has lost a mile of land that used to lie between it and the ocean. A project to build rocky protective islands off the beach to help retain sand and stabilize the coast has been stalled. Sargent was hard hit when Beryl, a Cat 1 storm came ashore there on Monday. Its difficult to imagine what a Cat 5 storm would do. The Texas coast is relatively flat, and retreating from the coast, and giving up on towns like Sargent means retreating a long way. We are running out of time to do something. submitted by [comments]