HULL, Mass. — As the weekend nor’easter approaches Massachusetts, residents who live along Allerton Point in Hull are expressing concerns about a deteriorating seawall.
“The seawall is in very, very bad shape,” said Joe Berkeley, a Hull resident who lives near the seawall.
“Our seawall is gone, it’s totally deteriorated, and it doesn’t protect anything anymore,” Gary Bloch, another Hull resident who lives along the seawall, said.
Berkeley and Bloch said they’ve been watching the seawall fall apart for more than a decade. Each time there’s a storm, they cross their fingers the wall stays intact.
“We watch and we hope that it’s not gonna be as bad as they’re saying,” Bloch said.
Bloch said the seawall at Allerton Point is the only one in town that’s owned by the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which is also why they’re not able to fix it themselves.
“We reach out to everybody, our state rep, our state senator, DCR,” Bloch said.
Despite all of their efforts, Bloch said nothing changes, and the problem is getting worse.
“We’ve had storms here where the water literally went all the way across the street,” Bloch said.
“The gap has grown exponentially. I have a 100 ft tape measure that I use to measure the gap with, but I can’t use it anymore because it’s not long enough,” Berkeley said.
Berkeley said he’s concerned about the impact it could have on homes during the storm if nothing is done to fix it.
“The seawall is gonna fall in the ocean, and it’s going to destroy the homes and the infrastructure that the town relies on,” Berkeley said.
According to Gov. Maura Healey, President Donald Trump terminated millions in federal disaster recovery funding. She said in a statement:
“In Massachusetts, we’re trying to make our communities safer and more resilient against severe weather like we are expecting this weekend, but President Trump is hurting our ability to do so by terminating millions in federal disaster recovery funding for Massachusetts communities. These projects were supposed to protect homes, businesses, roads, utilities and public spaces from coastal erosion, flooding and future storms. I’m continuing to demand that the Trump Administration reverse this decision, and we are monitoring this weekend’s storm closely and working with communities to help them prepare and keep people safe.”
But some residents believe the state should find the money elsewhere.
“When they wanna do something, they have money, so to me it’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of priorities,” Bloch said.
Boston 25 also reached out to DCR about this, and a representative said they’re looking into getting more information.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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