Analysis: Did America's Beaches Do Their Jobs This Hurricane Season?FORT MYERS, FL - Now that the winds have died down and the waves have stopped crashing, Americans are ready to bid farewell to another active hurricane season. Although most would like to forget this past season, experts are still working to assess how the nation's beaches performed in their mission to minimize storm damage to public and private structures and infrastructure. This year turned out to be the second most destructive season on record (behind the 2005 season), with more than $50 billion in damage. The season began more active than normal, but tapered off in October. Overall, Hurricane Ike was the most destructive storm, making landfall near Galveston, Texas, as a Category 2 storm. Hurricanes Gustav and Dolly were also very destructive.
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