Beach houses topple into Atlantic Ocean

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NEWBURY, Mass., March 9 (UPI) -- Pricey beachfront homes are toppling into the surf in Massachusetts this weekend, undermined by relentless heavy wave action, officials said.

Sharon Bresnahan told The Boston Globe Saturday contractors were to have started re-enforcing her family's $700,000 Plum Island home on Tuesday, but it fell off its foundation overnight Friday.

"Time just ran out," she said.

Newbury building inspector Sam Joslin said another house on the barrier island, owned by Thomas Nee, also would be demolished Sunday because it, too, was compromised by the relentless wave action of storms that have hit the region in recent months.

"It hasn't fallen, but it is so structurally compromised that it can't be saved at this time," Joslin said.

Nee told the Globe Friday he didn't want to discuss the situation.

"I've been talking about it for two months. It's over. It's gone," he said.

Just doors away, high tide knocked down an $800,000 house Friday and four more nearby houses were also seriously damaged Saturday, the Globe said.

"Some stuff that had minor damage last night was severely impacted this morning. We were expecting a higher than normal tide, but not at high as this one," Joslin said. "And the duration of the tide -- it would just not go out. It took hours to recede."