Apparently the smart money is on nature:
"The owners of beachfront homes in the seaside community of Salisbury Beach in northern Massachusetts spent nearly $600,000 to have about 15,000 tons of sand dropped near their properties to protect themselves from future storms.
But the Atlantic Ocean had something else coming. The high tide and winds that pounded the area Sunday washed nearly half of the sand away, mere days after it was placed.
The storm left the beach area stripped and defenseless before the ocean waters that draw vacationers to that beach town every year.
“People are depressed, discouraged, angry,” said Tom Saab, president of Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change, a group representing property owners that spearheaded the sand project. “The dunes did their job. They sacrificed themselves to protect the properties — no properties were really damaged.”
The citizens group decided in January to purchase the sand that was placed in mid-February along a 1.5-mile stretch of Salisbury Beach near the properties, Saab said. About 150 buildings line the stretch of beach, including single houses and condos. The beach stretches for about 4 miles, and the adjoining properties are estimated to be collectively worth $2 billion, he said."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/beach-town-residents-paid-600-173247274.html