Impact of coastal erosion on communities of the South Coast of the RAACN after ETA and IOTA

Abstract

This study presents the results of the analysis of the impact of Coastal Erosion, which, for the purposes of this Article, shall be referred to as EC, following the passage of hurricanes ETA and IOTA in 8 communities of the southern coast of the Northern Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, composed by Karatá and Wawa Bar in the municipality of Puerto Cabezas; Haulover, Wautha Bar, Walpasiksa, Barra de Prinzapolka, Samil and Ariswatla, in the municipality of Prinzapolka. The main objective was to identify the impact levels in terms of Coastal Erosion left by the passage of hurricanes ETA and IOTA in these communities. The observation guide on the Coastal Erosion-Sedimentation Index (IS-SC) was the main methodology used, enriched with informal interviews with the inhabitants who accompanied the visits and tours of the communities.The results obtained indicate that there are different causal and conditioning factors that favor a greater impact of coastal erosion. It was also identified that the community with the highest IE-SC was Haulover, which reached a Level 5; However, five of the communities evaluated reached level 3, which shows that 71.3% are affected by this phenomenon at this level. As a recommendation, a similar analysis is suggested for the rest of the communities of the Northern Caribbean Coast as well as the communities of the Pacific Coast.