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E17 Coastal Erosion in America · Two Tools, No Clue

• Jeidan and Anna: Hey everyone, welcome to the Two Tools No Clue Podcast. I'm Anna. And I'm Jeidan. And today, we have no clue about coastal erosion. we gonna live? Or are we gonna die? Are we gonna own a beach house soon? Ew, stop. We're not. Like it's I'm not gonna speak for Mother Nature. But Yeah, this, you know, as we were talking about it in kind of last episode when we had that really big nor'easter in September. And that's a big deal. Because guess what? It wasn't snow because it's not cold enough for that. It was a crazy amount of wind on wind on rain on rain on wind. And it did not let up. And let me tell you our coastal friends, I hope you are well. I hope you are warm. I hope you are safe. I am sorry if you lost your possessions. I am sorry if you lost memories. But I just I hope you guys are okay because it was intense. especially for the coastlines, like in New Jersey, New Jersey got hit so hard. the outer banks in North Carolina, like I pray. free. I've always wanted to go to the Outer Banks. The Outer Banks is one of the most beautiful coastal areas that the East Coast has. for like wildlife, just just everything. It it's, you know, it's that like American sunset that you picture. Like that's what you get. I feel like it's better than Florida. Like I I still want to go, but you know, even now From the pictures that I saw growing up as a kid, like it's not the same. Most of that area is already gone. Yeah. So yeah. I joked with Jey that we're not gonna have beaches anymore. It's just gonna be cliffs. Like the the Isle of what is it? In Scotland. Yeah. all those little islands out there. They're just like straight drop off. Yeah, like something that you would see like how to train your dragon. Yeah. Like those clips. Literally. 'Cause I mean, yeah, and that's why it's gonna be here too, because of this erosion. We do have I think I should have screenshotted this picture for you 'cause when I saw it I thought about your comment that you had made about the coastline and how just drastic it is. There's actually several of those already, on American coastlines. Just drop offs? Yep. in Washington. You know what's crazy? I heard about this town so much and I did not put it in here, but I'm gonna give them a shout out right now. On the West Coast, you know, when you think of coastal flooding in America, like that's always been the running joke. It's like, California's, you know, gonna be gone. But there's also there's more states on on the West Coast and they suffer in different ways. Like Southern California, they really are suffering because the tide is rising for way different reasons than we expect. you know, these things called Kelvin waves, they are long producing waves. And these waves the length and the pressure and the different like different types of water, but just like where it's coming from. Like this Kelvin wave literally started off the coast of Africa. It then went down the coast of Africa. It traveled through the Pacific or sorry, the Indian Ocean. It ended up in the Pacific Ocean just right basically in Southern California. So all this water was just surging towards them. Wow. So it's not like it they're big waves, but they're not like It's not like a tsunami. Like remember how I was t mentioned it on one of the episodes? I thought it it's definitely not like a tsunami, so I'm sorry that I said that. Sorry if I made you panic, California. Tsunamis are like one of my biggest fears for like no reason. Mm. Me too. but I have a reason. I watch nightmares about them. Did you ever watch that movie? What the heck was it called? Like twenty twelve or something? I don't even know if that's what it's called. Or the end of the world. I don't know. I don't watch shit like that. You I'm never watching them again, but I don't need to watch It ends with a big ass wave and you know Yeah, no. You know, I didn't I was good. But the northern west coast, right? It is is similar to the northeast where they they don't get nor'easters 'cause those are specific to the Atlantic, if you didn't know that. I didn't know it until recently. But you know now. So welcome to the club. it's harsher because winter is involved, right? So the waves are different. They're more aggressive. It's getting hit, hit, hit, hit, hit. Why are they more aggressive in the winter? it's just 'cause it's attached to like the El Niños of the world and El Niñas. but it's just the different storms that kinda happen. Like this different reasons that they're getting erosion basically. so there's this place called Washaway Beach. It's in North Cove, Washington and this town has suffered the greatest loss due to erosion in America, and it's imp it's not impressive, it's terrifying because it literally like I'll I can show you the pictures. I'll I'll put the picture here. I can show it to you also. but this picture, if you're just listening, shows land basically just breaking off with a structure on top of it going in You can't tell what kind of water it's going into, but that's the ocean. It's the ocean. It's going just straight into the Pacific Ocean. There was a Navy base. Yeah, Navy base, not Army base, because it's on the coast. A navy base and they moved it because of how drastic this coastline was going away. Jeez Louise. Yeah. let me let me pull it up real quick. So That's terrifying. Can you imagine that being your house? Yeah. And so yeah, it was a lot of land. like at least you have time. It's not like a fire where you like you need to get out at this very fucking moment. Like you have some time to get y the most important things out. You can get your cats and your dogs together, you can get your small critters together. Well, if you are anticipating it, if you see this nor'easter and your house is two feet from the cliff, then you you at least have a moment to prepare. You're not wrong there. But that's still really terrifying. Yeah. I yeah, so I shout out to North Cove, Wash Away Beach. I'm sorry that happens to you. And so like They've been trying to fix it forever. It's not like they don't care, right? Yeah. And it's gotten to the point where this local takes it upon himself to like just dump whatever it is. It's it's called I feel like that's usually how it goes. Yeah, coastal nourishment. and actually, you know, I'll give the federal government a shout out in a positive manner today. Wow. checking if I have a fever. every year the federal government ends up putting out over a hundred and fifty million dollars to coastal restructure. It's called beach nourishment. so they basically buy a bunch of sand. I don't where are they getting the sand? Probably from New Hampshire. I don't know. Probably not, but it that was funny. yeah, 150 million dollars. I feel like they're obligated. You know, Washington D C is not far from the I feel like it doesn't work. It it does. Does it? But it does it at the same time. Because yeah, they pay a hundred and fifty million, but it's not that much money at the end of the day. Five hundred million dollars to continuously keep up all across America. It's probably because they need to do better. It's not working. Yeah. Because basically what ends up happening is like, you know all the beautiful beaches that you go to? We don't go to the beach, that's why I said that. they they basically literally do dump. More sand every single year. Like that's what they do. That's how it happens. and yeah. It just doesn't seem feasible. think my computer is about to say goodbye to me after A year. No, Anna. This is my old, old computer. I got rid of the one I had. How long have you had that? Since college. I didn't even think it worked. Yes. You bought a new one when you worked at the hellhole. Yes, and I gave it away because it was a horrible computer. Don't ever buy a Chromebook book. my god. Google anything. This is my HP from back back in the day. And you know, I I love the color. Anyway. I had a really long day at work 'cause I had to go back. You wouldn't know about that though because we skipped right over what's going on around the homestead? Yeah, we're gonna have to end with that. I got too excited to tell you about the horrors of coastal erosion. I'm so sorry. So you know, I know I dove right into some horror scenes on the West Coast, but there's gonna be more, don't worry. I figure I should probably go over what coastal erosion even is. So it sounds pretty straightforward. yeah, you you'd think so, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. So coastal erosion is the wearing away of land by the sea, often involving destruction destructive waves that erode the coast. There are four main processes of coastal erosion. Those are corrosion, abrasion, hydraulic action, and Ad attrition. Attrition. And you know what? I'm really proud of myself for saying it correctly because I had to definitely practice that one because I kept being like, idotrid? Like what's happening right now? Like what does that mean? Yeah, what does that mean? I'm gonna tell you, don't worry. You know I love my long quotes, so Corrasion is when destructive waves pick up beach materials like you know, the pebbles or just like loose anything and hurl them at a base of a cliff. I feel like that happens in Sky. Yeah. and it's like it I picture it very aggressive. I didn't would not want to be that cliff. Yeah. There's a lot of yeah of rocks in Scotland. Little pebbles. Yeah. And I think that's why that's why it happens. over time this can loosen the cliff material, forming like wave cut notches. And you know that actually happened in Hawaii. I the name of the site in Hawaii, but it's an it's it's in a national park and it's a cliff that looked like the I I'm the cliff, okay? And there was like this other like the cliff extended into like a circle. Just like this. And it had an opening in it and it was really impressive. And it the the waves took it out. The storm that that huge storm that came with like the Kelvin wave and everything, it it took it out. Like, damn. That's that reminds me of Man in the Mountain. R.I.P. Yeah. that wasn't from a wave, though. At least we we hope never. so anyway, abrasion occurs as breaking waves concentrated between the high and low watermarks, which contain sand and larger fragments that wear away the base of a cliff so that's more like to the bottom and that can be very dangerous because makes it into like a triangle. Yeah and then the whole thing just falls over and that I think is how tsunami could start. for sure. yeah so pretty pretty intense. When waves are hitting the base of a cliff and they cause like the air to kind of like go through the cracks and then like you know like when you see those pictures of waves hitting a bunch of cliff rocks that are all uneven and then you just see the water like forcefully spray out of it. Yeah. That is basically what hydraulic action is. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna read the whole thing to you 'cause it's I Did it perfectly. so the psh part is what that is. And I think it's funny that even in nature it's c called hydraulics. When it's like a naturally occurring thing. 'Cause when I think of hydraulics I think of like man made machines. It's like psh sh Yeah. But then like the first part is hydro, like that's water. And then attrition. it perfectly again is when waves cause rocks and pebbles to bump into each other and break up and and that then kind of it's not the cliffs that it's going after, it's like the coastal line, the larger stuff that ends up there as well. Like I picture Rocky Neck State Park in Connecticut. I don't know if you've ever been there, but it's literally just so many rocks. You can like cover rocks. Yeah, like different sizes. You can like walk on them to go crabbing and stuff like that. but as those get broken up, the shoreline it ends up then you get to the sand. Then you get to the communities, you know? So like you have to be careful for all of them. So yeah, that's my quotes about all the four processes. I mean yeah, erosion is erosion. You're not wrong, Anna. I didn't know that there were so many different types of erosion. I thought it was just like it's getting eaten away. That's all it is. It it makes sense. 'cause like it also just depending where you live, like, you know, the weather is always gonna affect it. Like Mother Nature be Mother Nature and you know. so before I go any further You're probably like all wondering why you even care, Jeidan? You don't live on the coast. Well, I was born on the coast. So I will always love the coast. But I also don't want my backyard to be the coast. And you know, I'm a firm believer that one man's problem is definitely gonna become your problem. don't know if it's because I work in retail. I don't know if it's just because I always end up being like, geez, I gotta figure this out. But we do have to care about other people's problems, you know. It will affect us, especially if they start actually coming and taking all of our sand. Can't have it all. I'm just kidding. I mean, if you need it, you can have it if it saves our lives. It's not going to. They're just dumping sand into the ocean at this point. But like what we also have to remember is it's not just about where you live when it comes to coastal erosion. So many other things are affected, right? So if our coastlines start changing, that might mean that the you know, migrations of certain animals will change, right? That also might mean that there's less access for fishermen and just for people in general. That means imports and exports. You know, one of the biggest places where we get exports is all along the East Coast. And guess what? If it keeps dwindling away and becomes huge cliffs like you're talking about, let's talk about access. We don't have any. Yeah. We have to start over. We're gonna have to build little elevators that go down the cliffs and take all the the stuff off the ships and then come back up. Exactly. That would be pretty wild. but no, yeah. So it's just, you know, like I said, one man's problem is definitely your problem. we gotta definitely start thinking about it that way. Yeah. so now that I ranted a little bit and also gave you the 101 on what coastal erosion is, now we're gonna dive into the coastal erosion that's happening in the USA. And you know, Anna, what I found to be very interesting and concerning was every coastline that America has is at risk and affected by coastal erosion. And I didn't even know two of these coasts even counted as coasts until I started learning about this. What makes them qualified to be in the red zone. isn't that a thing for every beach and coast everywhere across the world? Aren't they all at at a threat of erosion? We'll get into that. That's actually a really good question. It has to do definitely with sea level, definitely with preparation, what they have done for how much sand they've dumped. How many rain gardens they have in their city. Throwback. Mm-hmm. But no, yeah, it it it definitely matters. it also matters in preservation of wetlands, people. Coastal wetlands have been destroyed, and guess what? That is why we suffer so much worldwide for changing weather patterns, increasing flooding on the coastlines, because we did not take care of what naturally would protect us from that. Yeah. Because we're dum-dums and we wanted to take pictures of it instead when we scuba dived. Like that that's that happened. so yeah, anyway. I won't yell about that, so Anna, do you know what all the coasts in America are? No. I don't even know how many there are. I d I thought I did. I thought I was so confident. I was like, East Coast, West Coast, Gulf Coast, ay ay ay And they're like, You're missing two. That count. So the shoreline of the Great Lakes Yeah, see, this is why I have no idea. Like who would I like They're fucking lakes How is that a coastline? I think it's because of how large they are. Okay, it's not a coast. I know. But it kind of is because on the other side is a different country, I think. What's the definition of a coast? I should have looked that up. Look it up right now. I will. But anyway, what's the last there's one more? And I'm gonna be like there's no other coast. But guess what? There is. It's the Arctic coast and it's the longest coast in America. Also, at the same time. Okay, so I probably think that my phone thinks I'm an actual idiot. it's like one of those words where it's like you think you know what it means, but like what is it real what's the nitty gritty? A coast is the strip of land where the mainland meets a large body of water like an ocean or a sea. Like an ocean or a sea. I feel like no matter how big a lake is, that doesn't count. It will never be as big as a sea. It's counted as a coastline and it's eroding pretty drastically. And then okay, yeah, so the Arctic one. I had no idea. I I'm sorry, Alaska. I always forget about you. Hawaii's coastline doesn't count because it's an island. What It's just gonna it it's gonna erode. Like I gave an example already, but it wasn't on there. Hawaii be Hawaiian. That worked and didn't work the same time. these coastlines are very vulnerable to catastrophic events that will wash them away, change the landscape completely, destroy coastal homes, like all the beach houses. It's already happening in parts of California. A a lot on the east coast as well. Screw your beach house. What about the habitats for all the little The little birds, little stick legs. And people just don't get how important the full cycle is. Like we are one entity in the circle. I'm not gonna sing anymore. That was pretty good though. You had yourself on the back left and right this episode. my gosh. In one of the group chats at work today, this guy was like, I swear I'm humble, guys. And I responded back to him, You could be humble and skilled, sir. And he laughed so hard and I was like, That's me all day. I'm like, I'm not that humble though, but I'll pretend. so yeah, and and this is like, similar to our tilling situation here, this erosion will happen like 2050 So that's twenty four years from now. I will be older, but I won't be that old and I think that's weird to think about, and really alarming. So in a in addition to the coastal erosion, like I mentioned earlier, the wetlands are definitely being affected and that is causing not causing it, but it's help it's helping us be vulnerable. It it's our last defense and we took it away. Yeah. Other than our beach nourishment and sand dunes, which by the way Yeah, cool. They they're big, sure, but they can be taken out within one storm. we were reminded that in in the last storm. Like some of the pictures I'll show you l later in the episode from Outer Banks again. Terrifying. so a quote from toolkit.climate.gov, all about coastal erosion. and they said, about these events that are unfolding. In addition to beach erosion, more than eighty thousand acres of coastal wetlands are lost annually. The equivalent of seven football fields disappearing every hour. my God. Of every day. Statistics like that just fucking kill me. Like makes my every time I've I've read it. Throw up. Yeah. My my s it's not even throw up, it's like that just knot of like there's no coming back from that. Yeah. the aggregate result is that the United States lost an area of wetlands larger than the state of Rhode Island between 1998 and 2009. that's in our lifetime, you know? So like like I was saying earlier about outer banks. The pictures that you see from like people growing up going back in the day, like that's not what it looks like anymore. That is not the same coastline already. I just How sad. I don't know. It it's just weird to not be le looking back on it and it being so far that you're like, Well what could I have done? I wasn't even born. Like I was alive. And by 2009 I was nineteen years old. I could've been doing stuff. I don't know. But I don't know. Just like it's we it's weird to think about it like that, I guess. So Anna, where do you think that the worst coastal erosion is in America? East West Arctic Gulf or the Great Lakes? West, probably. No, and I thought the same thing, but they're like kind of last. Really? Yeah. So like depending on who you're talking to and like what factors you think are more relevant. I feel like California gets hit hit with those big waves more often than the East Coast does. Yeah. Like the And and that tsunami shock waves and like all that bullshit. Terrifying things like Like all the aftermath shit. Californian deals with. Yeah. but I think they're like kind of more set up where some towns flood. But I think there's more communities and denser populations along other coastlines and that's why they consider it more catastrophic to like human life, you know, because the humans are there kind of thing. and yeah, obviously people live in California. There's a lot of people that live in California. but I just don't think their coastlines are affected. the same way, but they will be now because their their sea level is rising. And that's what they had their advantage was they had a little bit, not much, but most of their sea coast is higher than the east coast. I didn't know that. Probably 'cause of the waves. I don't know. I just think it's so weird. but yeah, oceans are oceans are kinda terrifying. So yeah, depending on who you're talking to. Like if you're talking about just like straight up destruction, the Alaska coastline actually is suffering the most. you know, all outskirt communities, they had to leave, like things like that. but there's just not that many people up there. But if Alaska dwindles away, like that's gonna affect that Bay Area, that's gonna affect, you know, those Canadian coastlines that we don't think about because we're like we're not up there with them, you know what I mean? So it depends you talk to because then other people will say if you're just thinking about the forty eight states, so screw Hawaii and screw screw Alaska, the the quickest rate is at the Great Lakes. But there's not much people up there. So really it's the Gulf Coast because of just community destruction. And how it's just really not getting any better. and then after that it it's the east coast. The the East Coast has it is like on on the list and the radar for more things when it comes to erosion than the Gulf Coast. So like it I don't know. It it really depends who you ask and and what you're thinking about and talking about. But overall, our coastal lines are fucked. Yeah. That's what I got from this. there's really not much we can do about it. Yeah. genuinely there there really isn't I mean there's some things but just not I just don't see it fixing something that's been going on for so long. yeah, so the Gul the Gulf Coast is facing coastal erosion at a dramatic rate and that's why I think you see the most devastation to communities across several states and that's why people will consider it. Whereas the erosion that happens down the east coast, it's kinda like spread out. it's happening all up the coast, but the big rates are it's not all right grouped right there. in in an article called Ranked the eight riskiest coastal towns in America for 2026 I was excited that it was that recent. Yeah. Because a lot of the what was even more terrifying is some of the first articles that I read, they were written in like 2010, like 2016, and I'm like, we're fucked. back when we had an administration that gave a fuck. But yeah, it was it was like I was really excited to see that it was for 2026 five out of the eight cities are on the Gulf Coast. That is insane. And then the other three are on the Atlantic coast. So that's where I dib we're the problem child. East Coast is the problem, Gulf Coast is the problem. Especially with the climate change. Hurricane season is only getting worse. Yeah. In the Gulf. And that's why it's like those coastal line cities need to figure it out on the Gulf just as much as the Atlantic. Because they get hit way more with the stronger sides of the hurricanes than we do. Especially up up north. So, you know, like I said, we we're the problem child on the Atlantic coast. and like I mentioned earlier, like I really think it's because of the density of population. Like I was joking about Washington DC, but there are a lot of heavy hitter cities on the East Coast, that's why we're the problem. It's because there's a l a lot of people that live on and then all the way even down to Florida. Miami is a huge port in Florida. Like, yeah, okay, we joke that it's for like cruises and stuff, but also a lot of imports come through the Miami and then all the way up the East Coast, like a lot of stuff comes into America from the East Coast. So like we gotta figure it out. Yeah. We have to have a coastline. It's just it you know Logistically, I don't think it would help us at all if it just went away. That's all I'm saying. the the latest storm, perfect example of why we need to figure it out on the east coast, is because that storm only was like two to three days and it flooded communities, it took out highway systems. Highway systems were closed and underwater. That's scary. Like that's your main way out of places is the freaking highway for right? Like if you're trying to get the fuck out quick, like you're getting on we're getting on ninety one or we're getting right up ninety one to eighty nine, like wherever we need to go, we're out. Their highway is on the coast. I don't know. It it was scary. so I just don't know if that I thought that was a pretty good example. And here, I will show you guys the pictures now of that coastline because I I need you to understand what we are up against. When it comes to us versus the ocean, I don't care how many reps you do at the gym, my dude, the ocean wins every single time. KO. Okay, so here's the first picture that I want to show you. This is after 18 foot waves just hit Outer Banks on and on and on and on. my god. That is the community of Outer Banks. It is flooded. So Anna's taking a look at the picture now. It is a community underwater. Not extremely underwater, but very conveniently underwater. majority of that town was evacuated by the state. but, you know, it's their livelihood, it's where they live and like I said earlier, I hope they all got out safe. I hope they're warm. I hope they're with all their family. Here is a part of the road that collapsed. Yikes. What's this truck doing? Get off the fucking road. I saw a picture of this frickin' Jeep Wrangler driving through the flood zone with the it was considered low tide but because of the surge it was really high still. They were going through active water on the coastline, on Pea Island in Outer Banks, North Carolina and I was like, What are you doing? Like it it's also if you buy a house on stilts What are you doing? Like, come on. If you if you've ever seen did you see this one? The the what is that called? The series of unfortunate events where Jim Carrey is the Count Olaf or whatever the fuck his name is. I forgot about that. House. That's exactly what I think of when people move into houses on the on the beach with stilts like that. Yeah. It's What are you doing? No, I'm not doing that. Like the wind will blow it over. Of course. And then this last picture is like Anna was saying Sure, yes, your house is above sea level. That's correct. But guess what? When the sea goes under it gonna win every time. Yeah. So this picture, so the nearest house to us us is completely collapsed. And that was also a stilted house and it is now just done. The ocean is right up to the rest of the houses. You can still see a few in the background, but that's I just thought that was a good representation because That house used to be just as tall as those other houses. That's crazy. so yeah, that was like a coastline community right on the beach. you know, I always joke when especially when we go to beach town, it's like, yeah, one thing to be on stilts, but then there's the people that also are on stilts and on sand. What? How is that even an ordinant I don't know. I don't know what kind of ordinances they have to build houses, but that seems crazy to me. I don't care how much concrete you're pouring in a circle for those stilts. Like I yeah, I don't understand how that works it's gonna wash away. When the sand washes away around it, guess what, guys? Your house is just gonna go concrete and all. Cause guess what? The ocean doesn't care. Yeah, you're just polluting the ocean at that point. Yeah, good job. In twenty years you're signing a contract that you will pollute the ocean. Yeah, basically. And that is like that is also one of the struggles that people are finding is because as these communities are changing, insurance is changing and house insurance is expensive when you own a home, especially in Vulnerable areas it changes things. if you live in a flood zone, like bet your ass you're paying more for flood yeah. Insurance. promise. I I promise. and a lot of the things if you have a shady state, shady insurance company and there's legit loose legislation, like there's some places where you know they can take those things away. They can change policies. Like, well that doesn't count. You have to pay extra for a flood. Like stuff like that. it kind something similar happened to California during their fires that they were having. Like insurance companies were being wicked shady and that's why people were like trying to blame them. Like, did you start these fires? 'Cause you literally just pulled all this insurance from people. What? Seems sus. But they were just like You know, fire trends are are high. We're pulling this right before fire season. Yeah. Just look bad, I think. Well, you never know, but sorry, let me get back to the cities now. So The eight cities to final. I think it's trying to tell me that it's actually really gonna die soon because it just popped up this weird HP thing saying, This is your last chance. There's no parts for this computer anymore. What? Like here's the deals that you can get. They're just trying to get me to a buy a new computer. Yo, HP is so sketchy. Yeah. With shit like that. No, yeah, it really is. Like they're printers, thank god we have a canon printer. I don't know if you y'all have seen the viral TikTok that lady where she's been getting like off brand ink this entire time and she's just connected her printer, her HP printer, to her computer via the frickin' cable, just straight input, and suddenly it started requiring she's had this freaking printer for five plus years. Yeah. All of a sudden it started requiring to be connected to Wi Fi. And then requiring HP ink. She loaded it with her usual off brand ink, which is like so much cheaper than the brand price. That's so shady. And it was like this ink is incompatible. She's had this printer for five years. They must have sent an update via Wi Fi. Yes. And that's why it was like it needs to be connected. And that now HP doing this with your computer being like, There's not enough parts. You need to buy a new laptop soon. That's crazy. Yeah, it's weird. I've had my MacBook for ten plus years and it's never told me that I need to buy a new one. They're probably gonna shut down your computer manually. No, probably. I think that's what's happening right now. Nothing's even wrong with the computer, it's just they deem it too old and you need a new one. They want you to spend more money on them. Fuck HP. Anyway. I second that notion. I'm grumpy today. Today was a long weird day. so okay. To finish off the episode. eight coastal towns in America. That are at risk. God. So number one, Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana. Never heard of it. Good luck. I so you've never heard of it, but listen to this. no community on this list has lost more ground than Isle de Jean Charles. It's a narrow strip of land about 90 miles southwest of New Orleans in the Terribone Parish, Louisiana. It has lost ninety-eight percent of its land mass to rising waters of the Gulf of Mexico since 1955 This town has two percent of its land left. Mm. An island that was once encompassed more than twenty two hundred acres is now only three hundred and twenty acres. Wow. Yeah, they make they make like those levees. Like you know those big brick walls that you see on the coast in the ocean. You're always like, what the heck is that? That's to stop coastal erosion. I didn't quite understand. I knew it was for something, but I was just like what is this? But kind of just moves it and it ends up being somewhere else. So like it's helpful for you and that one spot kinda sorta. But like your neighbor maybe not so much so so yeah, but it it did help them. and then number two is Rodanthe and Buxton, North Carolina. so that is the Outer Banks of North Carolina, just so you know. I didn't know I thought the Outer Banks was just one town, but it's like a few. okay. Yeah, on the outer banks. I always thought the Outer Banks were in like Australia. Like that show on that Netflix show, that seemed very Australian. That did not seem like it was based in North Carolina. That's in North Carolina. Outer Banks. That that show is based out of I I know. I know and I someone They literally look like No, it's wicked coastal little Australian teenagers. Nope, that's what they look like in North Carolina too. They sleep on the sand. And everyone's tan. Everyone's tan. I mean, yeah, I mean think about all those coastal lines. They are wearing bikinis all the time and shirtless and not during a nor'easter. I mean I don't know, maybe sea salt soaked hair. Yeah, no, it's real. I mean think about that I feel like that's how how half of Florida is half the time. There are coastal towns too. Yeah, it's just it's a different vibe in that show than Florida. That's why I thought it was Australia. No, yeah, you're right. It's a it's a T V show, so I'm sure it's not that like Well when you say Outer Banks, that's what I think of. No, I know, I know. When I I was like, We'd never finish that series. No, it got weird. It did get weird. one of the reasons they're number two is because seven hundred and fifty ocean front structures along the North Carolina coast are at risk from the sea rising and then also like just waves on waves on waves. and thirty one privately owned homes have already collapsed. Wow. And that was just between 2024 and twenty 2025 Twenty 2025 Okay, number three. Poor New Orleans, man. Like and I'm kinda shocked that they're number three because they're always flooded. They've just been flooded. Yeah, they should be number one. I guess there's not two percent left though. So like quick fact though. New Orleans has spent two decades rebuilding its reputation for flood defense. but obviously their geo geography time and time again fails them. you know, like you said earlier, there's only so much sand and in their case the sand will not help them. It's the sea level. Right. They're s at such a low sea level that it's just They have to bury their people above ground. Like that's insane. I don't even think they can like I don't even think they have the space for that anymore. Like I I don't know. It's very it's very real how Katrina still is just affecting that community. They never recovered from it, I don't think they ever will, and that is coastal erosion playing its part, you know, because They didn't have a line up defense. It was gone. there's only so much you can do. So Yeah. They are trying though. Number four. Also on the Gulf Coast. Fort Myers Beach. It's on the inside. I don't know if you've ever been there, but it's it's it's a nice area. I feel like rich old people go there though. What state is that? In Florida. but again, it's just because of the location, the hurricanes. they actually got hit really hard with Hurricane Ian. Mm. And so they sh they've struggled. Do other countries get hit with as many hurricanes as we do? I don't know. I'm sure. Maybe that one hit Jamaica and that was like a huge deal. that they did get I feel like Jamaica gets hurricanes. But it was it just a huge deal because of the magnitude of the hurricane. Yeah, it was bad. Like the whole grid went. Or was it like we never get hurricanes? This is crazy. No, that was like infrastructure failure, government failure, the grid turned off. Mm. The on the whole island. That's insane. Yeah. Imagine America just going dark. We'd all die. Chaos would ensue. We'd all kill each other. I'm factual on that. So number five is my north Miami, Florida. That's where it's like just north of the city. It's where the majority of the wetlands are in that area. which is that's I don't like that. And you know, shout out to Miami because they do have rain gardens. They'd be rain gardening it up and they're still on the list. So like that's where it's it it concerns you because it's not like these communities aren't trying. They're not like it that it is their livelihood. So the w the way they're staying alive is they do care about these things. but we're not backing 'em up as much as I think we should be as Whole nation, I guess. And then number six is Norfolk, Virginia. Like that's pretty north of the east coast. that's closer to us than I would like. we don't need our coastal areas flooding. They have like a double whammy and the reason they're on their list is like their land is like also sinking. And because they're coastal town, like that's not good. Is it sinking because of like platonic plates? Like why is that a thing? they didn't really get into that and I I I didn't really go looking for the answer. but I feel like it does. I feel like it has to do with You know how our soil's depleting. Mm-hmm. Has nowhere to go, so it goes in, it goes out, it goes in, it goes out, and then it becomes nothing. Withered away over time. Yeah. And then number seven is Charleston, South Carolina. again, very large, vacation coastal town. Yeah, they're like rich there. Yeah. Shocked that they're not doing more. Again, I feel like it's just kind of one of those things where Put your money where your home is, people. Yeah, your second homes, third homes, fourth homes, whatever number home it is, don't you want it to be there? yeah, but their sea levels also are rising. Like all all the sea levels are rising. We're not gonna yell about that. We all know about that. and so that is not helping their cause. Especially with like they they get impacted by the nor'easters as well. Like I'm sure Charleston And Atlantic City. Atlantic City did get hit. Like so I'm sure Charleston did as well. but most of the serious damage in in that last storm we had was in Outer Banks, and that's where I saw the majority of the the pictures and the damage and then New Jersey as well. And then number eight is Galveston, Texas. Galveston reminds me of the original New Orleans. Because of something that happened to them in 1900 and this is a straight quote 'cause I don't want to mess it up. Galveston has a long difficult history with the Gulf of Mexico dating back to the catastrophic 1900 hurricane that remains the deadliest natural disaster in US history. The island city sits on a narrow barrier strip just a few feet above sea level, which leaves it acutely vulnerable to storm surge whenever a major hurricane tracks toward the upper Texas coast. Its seawall was built after the 1900 disaster, has helped protect the immediate waterfront, but does little for the bay side of the island. which still floods regularly during moderate storms. It's still flooding. Where is this? Galveston Texas. And this this this is a picture of Galveston Texas after flood went away. So like this is a picture of of the town. Structures are flattened. There's debris everywhere. There's not one standing working thing. Pictures like that stress me out. 'Cause it's like there's just so much. There's so much destruction. Where do you even start? How do you even begin to recover from that? and that's just a picture of like Yeah. Thirty acres. Yeah. that's not even that's a small portion of the whole town. yeah. my god. And I'm old enough to remember Katrina. Mm-hmm. I remember all the rescue aids that had to go down from everywhere. All the like, groups that went down, whether they really Christian or the American Cross, like all all of that. It was a lot. Like I remember those people were literally living in the Superdome. That was the only place that did not flood. Was the frickin' football arena. Of course. But you know what? They opened it up right away. No questions asked and they made the most of it. But like it's those types of things, like I don't know what I would do, but you're kinda just forced to do whatever you can in those moments, you know? It's just like like I would just get in my car and drive. Far, far, far, far away. Maybe that's ridiculous. Cause like obviously it's not like we're rich. You know what I mean? But like I just I don't know, you never know how you're gonna react in those situations. I hope I never have to deal with it because it is. It's just impactful and even just witnessing it on the news, you're like, okay. Like things like that can happen and are happening. so yeah, I just Wasn't trying to be too doomsday, but obviously it wasn't a light topic today. But I think it's important because Like I stated earlier, you know, we've always just joked that California was gonna go underwater. And we even joke that Florida's gonna go underwater, but it's factual and it's really not that funny. people live there. don't we want them alive. We want them to be able to live in their homes. so yeah, it's just it's like scary scary to think about. But we need to talk about it 'cause we need to do something about So I guess to lighten the mood. We totally forgot about what was happening around the homestead. Well, let me rephrase. I forgot because I I've been stressing about erosion, okay? We literally were like, What are we gonna say? Okay, erosion is killing everyone. So Yeah, hi I had to go back to work, like I stated earlier. Didn't win a million dollars. So how long was your vacation? Honestly, it was fantastic. It was like nine whole days. And I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it was very much needed. It was needed more than I realized. it was a good reset. I work in retail. It's been a doozy this already. And now it's gonna be the holiday season. And I just like, please be nice. Please. Like just even if it's not to me, obviously, like, you know, just like be nice to people. Don't be rude to people who are trying their best to help you in a situation. Sometimes we have to say no to you. Sometimes we don't have things. It's not our fault. That's all I gotta say. Anna's got one, I have one more too. Well, I was gonna say, this isn't even mine, but Jey fixed the dishwasher on his vacation. Which was crazy. I had told him just call the guy and he was like, No. It was like three hundred dollars that one we didn't have to spare. two, like I just I could feel it in my heart that all it was gonna be to like take gunk out of it and put a new part on. And that's what it was. Did I buy the wrong part three times? Sure. But I figured it out and it only ended up being sixteen dollars and one cent. I'll even claim the one cent 'cause that's how proud I am of the difference. It's not three hundred dollars. Yeah. Yeah, thanks babe I appreciate that. It it took way longer than it should have. Like I said, I ordered the wrong parts, so like I was returning stuff everywhere. I bought like all these wrong things, had to return those. Thankfully the returns went easy and they took them back. So that that's always a plus. But yes, it did take me seven out of my nine vacation days to get it squared away, but you did it. Thank you, thank you. Put like twenty five hours into my plumber certificate. What do they call it? Like math I don't know. And and then another thing that I did during my vacation was We transplanted four blueberry bushes finally. Yeah. It's been like two years I've been talking about this plan since my parents moved into their retirement farm. LOL, silly parents. So now there is only seven hundred and ninety-five blueberry bushes at my parents' house. Cause we have five of them. And they're doing well. One did try to blow over, but back in the hole told told it to stay there and it did. No, my brother helped me with that part. so thank you, Christopher, for that. But yeah, so five successful plants. I hope they continue to bear blueberries. That will be the big step. Survive the winter. Yeah. So yeah, that's And speaking of colder weather, I put up our Halloween decorations today. Finally. And they look really good. And I didn't know that Anna was doing it either and so when I came home it was a nice pleasant surprise and Anna actually made some really cool homemade decorations when we first moved into the house and 'cause we're poor. But they were also really cool ideas that you I feel like you would pay for trash at places and then it would break. 'Cause it's all plastic, you know what mean? Yeah, she made these hanging ghouls that are on our porch and it's it was just made out of like sheets and she cut them all cool on the bottom so it looked like it's flowy and they they blow around with our wind chimes and they have lights in them so you can turn them on at night. I just drew little faces on them. Yeah, and they're so cute. And then we also have she made a bunch of witches. and they're all they're like, what do you think? They're like two. feet tall. Three feet. Three feet. They're three feet tall. And last year we had them doing like a seance circle. J what would did we have it around last year? The mums or something silly. I don't think we had it up for very long last year because I couldn't get them into the ground. She had it in a little seance circle and I thought that was awesome last year, but this year we planted a pear tree and so like it's wicked tiny. It's like about four feet tall and barely anything. And they're doing the seance around the tree and I just got a wicked good kick out of it. you know, Anna says for good luck. So Yeah, they're helping it grow. So what you got for us in the good old farmer's almanac today, my love. Well, today is October eighth. Little brown bats hybrinate now. I don't know where little brown bats are from. Where do they hibernate? Like in caves and stuff? Maybe trees. I don't know. Where are they from? I'm gonna look. Little brown bats. That's their legal definition. I got a bat box for Christmas quite a few years ago at this point and I still cannot get it on a fucking tree. It's so annoying. There's a big ass map. It looks like they're East Coast lovers. Ooh. It it so the map that I have shows screw Florida. Florida doesn't want them. But it goes all the way up to Canada on the east coast side and then just above the United States and Canadian line. they like colder weather. Yeah, and it goes up to parts of Alaska as where wow. It looks like they just avoid the Yukon territory. Okay. Thought that was pretty cool. In other news, painter Ozais Leduc was born today in 1864 What did he paint? I don't know. Today is the best day to have dental care, pick fruit, and harvest below ground crops. Cool. Get your teeth cleaned. Pick your apples. That sounds like a good time. We gotta go to Allison soon. Yeah. I think it's kind of after apple season at this point. I think we missed it a little bit. yeah, it is kind yeah. It's October. Shout out to my dad, it was his birthday yesterday. Happy birthday, Tom. Gonna s party it up tomorrow. Okay, thanks for listening to us this week. We appreciate all the follows. And if you're not already, definitely follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok @TwoToolsNoCluePodcast. You can subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/twotoolsnoclue. And you can email us at twotoolsnocluepodcast@gmail.com. I'm still waiting. He's still waiting for his first email. Will it be you? It's gonna be me. He wants any anyone to say anything to him. Even though he doesn't check the email. Dear Jeidan, your podcast is awesome. Love Jeidan All right, guys, be safe out there. Stay away from the ocean. It's disintegrating before our eyes. It's not funny. I'm so sorry. It's it's overwhelming. I laugh sometimes when I'm overwhelmed and tired. So yeah, but seriously, be safe out there. Hope you guys have a great week. We love you. We love you. Bye-bye. Bye.