Recovery of Carbonate Sand Beaches on San Salvador Island, Bahamas From Damage by Hurricane Frances (2004)

East Beach and Hanna Bay Beach, located on the northeast coast of San Salvador, were two of the island\u27s beaches most heavily impacted by Hurricane Frances (category 3) on September 2, 2004. A maximum storm surge of 3.1 m was reported for East Beach, with erosion occurring up to 70 m inland from the wave-break line and resulting in scarps cut into dunes of up to 1.5 m height. In January 2005, 5 beach profile stations along 1 km of East Beach and 3 stations along Hanna Bay Beach were established to monitor long-term coastal recovery from hurricane damage. East Beach was profiled 6 times and Hanna Bay Beach profiled 5 times using the stake and horizon-sighting method, beginning in January 2005 through January 2010. Dune vegetation also was greatly damaged by Hurricane Frances, and its recovery and stabilizing effects on dunes was noted