Tagged: Misquamicut Beach

The town of Westerly is close to fulfilling its promise to rebuild the Misquamicut Beach area by Memorial Day.  The town has made great strides since Superstorm Sandy left a path of destruction last fall.

It’s not perfect yet, but Misquamicut Beach looks a lot better than it did six-and-a-half months ago. Tons of sand the storm dumped on Atlantic Avenue have been put back on the beach, sand dunes have been restored and shopkeepers are making repairs. Jennifer Cordier of Hartford, Connecticut visited the beach Sunday and was pleasantly surprised.

Scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center said they hope to get some answers from a necropsy being done on a huge basking shark that washed ashore at Misquamicut Beach over the weekend.

Nancy Kohler, a scientist at the center, said the 28.5-foot long shark was a mature male, in good condition, and it’s unclear why it washed up dead. Her research team is doing a necropsy on the shark, on the beach, and she said that’s drawing a lot of attention.

The Westerly-Pawcatuck Chamber is working to raise $400,000 to make sure area businesses damaged by Superstorm Sandy are up and running by Memorial Day.  

Chamber executive director Lisa Konicki says the storm seriously damaged some 29 businesses, and most of them have yet to see a dime from their insurance companies.

Funds raised by the chamber will help businesses remove sand, repair damage and replace inventory before the tourist start arriving.

(PROVIDENCE, RI) Westerly town manager Steven Hartford says damage from Superstorm Sandy will probably exceed $20-M.  Roughly 150 homes and 30 businesses were damaged when the downgraded hurricane slammed into Rhode Island’s southern coast October 29th.