Town Beaches Closed Until Further Notice

Photos by Skip Weisenburger

Madison's town beaches, all three of them, are closed until further notice, says Tom Banisch, the chairman of the town's Beach & Recreation Commission.

He says half of the stone wharf has been destroyed at East Wharf Beach, that West Wharf is littered with debris and much of it is washed away, and that the condition of the Surf Club still needs to be assessed, since access has been limited due to flood waters in the road.

Town Engineer Mike Ott, while surveying the damage to buildings in the Circle Beach area of town, said an intial inspection at the Surf Club revealed that a concrete seawall will need to be repaired, and that there is a breach in a sand dune. He said the damage to East Wharf and West Wharf is "significant."

As for Middle Beach Road, which also sustained significant damage, Ott said it likely will have to be reconstructed and that the town will talk with the state to see if there is the potential for financial assistance to help with that.

At the Madison Beach Club, a private club, there were some reports that the lower beach sustained significant damage, while the upper beach was relatively intact, but those reports were not confirmed.

Across town, some beaches appeared to benefit from the storm.

Lizzie Robick, was walking back to her home on Buffalo Bay Monday morning, before cars were allowed back down, and she said her house sustained some damage, but the beach looked better than ever.

"It's like an all new beach," she said. "It's bigger than before, and it doesn't have any of the rockiness that it did before. It looks great."