USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Beach erosion in Ocean City, New Jersey
New Jersey was one of the states that was walloped by a nor’easter that subjected millions of people to strong winds and heavy rain over the weekend. The storm really took a toll on coastal towns, including one popular summer destination that recently spent $20 million to restore the beaches that suffered some significant erosion due to the weather.
The Jersey Shore is comprised of approximately 40 towns and cities situated on the approximately 140 miles of coastline on the eastern border of New Jersey. Nearly 50 million people flock there during the summer each year, and most of them will avoid the major storms that tend to roll in when autumn arrives.
People who reside there year-round are no strangers to the hurricanes that have the potential to wreak havoc on the region, and while nor’easters may pack a comparatively softer punch, those storms can also do some serious damage.
That was the case with the one that made its way up the East Coast last week, and one town that recently completed a massive beach restoration may need another one in the near future thanks to what unfolded.
Beaches in Ocean City, New Jersey suffered some serious erosion less than a month after a restoration project was completed
Beaches tend to be a major draw for coastal towns that rely on them to lure tourists during the warmer months of the year, and that’s the case with Ocean City, which sees its permanent population of around 11,000 residents balloon to upwards of 125,000 people during its peak season.
Earlier this year, the town turned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a beach restoration project that cost $19.5 million, one that involved the distribution of 1.6 million cubic yards of sand and was officially completed on September 7th.
Unfortunately, it appears much of that work was canceled out by this weekend’s Nor’easter. Drone footage captured its impact on the shore after the town was flooded by seawater, with WPVI reporting that a “small shelf” of sand had formed on the beach that had been replenished less than a month ago.
Ocean City New Jersey Is underwater 😢, makes me so sad to see, this is my favorite place pic.twitter.com/tF24RqHL0r
— Wake Up NJ 🇺🇸 New Jersey (@wakeupnj) September 27, 2026
Atlantic City, which is located around ten miles to the north, said the storm caused the most significant level of beach erosion since Hurricane Sandy, and we were treated to some pretty jaw-dropping footage highlighting that reality.
The beach in Atlantic City New Jersey is gone after the recent Nor Easter, sorry about the saxophone 🎷 sounds, tried to remove them pic.twitter.com/vj3R9tlT5b
— Wake Up NJ 🇺🇸 New Jersey (@wakeupnj) September 27, 2026
The Ocean City that’s located in Maryland was also not immune, and it will certainly need the 800,000 cubic yards of sand that were already reserved for a restoration project set to kick off in October.
WATCH: Ocean City sees beach erosion as the nor’easter continues.
(🎥: Courtesy of Josh Davis/The Baltimore Sun)https://t.co/rv4KLE7KOF pic.twitter.com/498hn7OLrT
— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) September 27, 2026
Beach erosion also led to a pretty cool discovery in Nantucket in the form of a shipwreck from the 1800s.
Nature remained undefeated.