Living on the edge: Cape Breton woman concerned with rapid rate of erosion

Joyce Peach, 92, has lived near the coastline in Port Morien, N.S., for most of her life without any worry — but that is changing.

“Each storm seems to be getting worse and worse, and having lost over 50 feet of property is an issue,” said Peach.

She figures there is only about four-and-a-half meters, or 15 feet of land left from her house to the water's edge.

“The property is gradually falling into the ocean. Everybody tells me I have a million-dollar view, but that is all I have,” Peach said.

She’s lived in the house since 1963, and over the years she says a number of politicians have been on her property, but none have offered help to try and stop the erosion.

“It's scary when you look out from her bathroom window and you can see the shore,” said her son, Stan Peach. “We've been just dealing with this for many years and nobody seems to want to address it.”

Several storms and fluctuating temperatures have taken their toll on the shoreline. Experts say that combination doesn't help.

“What we're definitely seeing is ground that would normally be frozen this time of year and water would just run off. If that ground is not frozen and it’s loose and you have a winter rain storm like we've been having, it definitely makes it so much worse,” said Deanne van Rooyen, a geology professor at Cape Breton University.

Driving wind and rain that has battered much of region recently, has forced the Peach family to move two sheds off the property because they were in danger of falling into the ocean.

“Coastal erosion is particularly difficult to deal with because you're fighting the ocean,” said van Rooyen.

A fight the Peach family knows all too well, and one they're worried about losing.