Texas coast uses Christmas trees to rebuild dunes
AFP, SURFSIDE BEACH, Texas
Toni Capretta stood on a patch of Texas’ Gulf coast where just seven months earlier the dunes were nearly her height. Now they are gone.
Her town of Surfside Beach comes alive during the summer months, when Texans flock to the coast, but the landscape’s saving grace is straight out of a winter wonderland: the beloved Christmas tree.
The recycled evergreens are used to construct new dune barriers to protect the sensitive area from the ravages of powerful storms.
Recycled Christmas trees lie on a beach in Surfside Beach, Texas, on Jan. 16.
It’s been more than two months since Hurricane Zeta made landfall as a category two hurricane, leaving a trail of destruction throughout South Mississippi.
2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season Fast Facts erienewsnow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from erienewsnow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Minnesota DNR reveals its top 5 weather events of 2020
Did your top weather event make the list?
Author:
As the year 2020 comes to an end, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources State Climatology Office is looking back on the top five weather events of the year.
The list is based on votes from weather enthusiasts that include the National Weather Service, the University of Minnesota and Facebook followers.
1. Summer in November
The record-setting warm spell in November took the No. 1 spot on the DNR s list of top weather events for 2020.
According to the DNR, Granite Falls hit 84 degrees on Nov. 4, tying the state s all-time record high for November.
Insurance Journal’s Most Noteworthy Topics of 2020: South Central Region
Hurricanes, Hurricanes and Tropical Storms
It can’t come as any surprise that hurricanes and tropical storms topped the list of the most read subjects of interest in Insurance Journal’s South Central region. In a North Atlantic hurricane season for the record books there were 30 named storms, of which 12 made landfall in the U.S., five of them in Louisiana alone.
While the total insurance price tag for the U.S. storms was $20 billion, the amount was moderate compared to the record seasons of 2005 and 2017, according to Swiss Re. Damage was still done, as Louisiana residents who are still in recovery mode from the seemingly unending spate of storms can attest.