ISLE OF PALMS — A combination of king tide cycles and a nor’easter pummeled each end of the island , severely eroding an already-weakened beach.
At the island’s northern tip, the Ocean Club Villas stood tall, undergoing another facelift. Cloaked in vibrant blue netting and scaffolding, the Wild Dunes condominiums were bearing the brunt of some of the worst erosion.
The four-day stretch of tides, storm surge and rain pushed back the dune system at the Ocean Club and nearby properties about 15 feet, according to a post-storm report from the city’s contracted coastal engineering firm. At the king tide’s highest point, a roughly 8.5-foot swell , waves lapped at the base of the scaffolding. Water undermined the concrete slab.
Since the building’s construction in the 1980s, the tide has c