South End of Fosters Point, West Bath, Maine

Minor storm on 3 Dec 2009

The following pictures were taken at about 10 AM (one hour before high tide).
At this time the predicted tide height was about 10' and winds were about 25 knots from the SouthEast.  
These pictures show the water levels under these conditions.
Typical major storms are significantly worse than this.
If the same minor storm occurred at the time of the highest of high tides (11.5') then the water level would have been 1.5' higher.
If winds were say 45 knots instead of 25 knots then the water levels would likely have been an additional 1-2' higher and waves would likely have been 2+ feet higher.
These conditions would have been similar to those of the worst storm in this area in living memory, which was the storm of January '78.  
That storm had water levels 2-3' higher than that shown in these pictures and much higher waves.
Most say that average sea level is rising and will continue to rise.  This will lead to increased damage at the shorefront.
All this indicates that low-lying shorefront homeowners will need to put in protections to limit shorefront damage. 
My greatest concern is that we get a repeat of the Storm of '78 when sea levels are several feet higher (see note below on Storm of '78). 
During the Storm of '78 the sea level was 8" over the wall at the end of the point shown in these pictures and waves were 3' over that.
Any repeat with  2' increase in sea level as expected by the Maine DEP in this century will be catastrophic.
Click on any picture to enlarge to full screen, click again to enlarge some more.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14
Note: this was taken on 10 Dec 2009.  The blue arrow points to a 500 pound block of granite that ocean storms have several times
thrown down on the rocks below.  I use the block as a step and it is not pinned down.  This demonstrates the severity of  these storms. 
Temporary measures will not suffice.  
Some of my sewer system is behind the second wall.  
This land and this house are still here only because of this wall ... and the outer wall now needs
to be raised to the level of the inner wall to compensate for rising sea levels.

15
This overhead picture of the property in question is from the Internet taken at an unknown time.  

Storm of '78:
Although we have had a variety of significant storms over the years, this storm was the most damaging with the highest 
water levels and waves.  It occurred at the peak of an astronomical high tide cycle with very strong winds from the South.
In Portland it set the record for the highest tide (Feb 7, 1978) at 14.17' and had a storm surge of 3.5'.
Here it washed 10-12' off the end of this point and the tops of waves were hitting within 2' of the front steps of the 
house at the end of the point.  This meant waves were breaking over the sewer system of the residence.
The seawall at the end of the point here was put in right after to reclaim the lost land and armor the shore in case of a 
repeat performance.  
Now, with consensus that sea levels are going to rise 1-4' over this century and Maine DEP writings stating an 
expectation of a rise of 2', any repeat performance is going to be much worse.
Homeowners should be allowed to protect their property before there is catastrophic damage.   

Additional pictures of neighboring properties