A seaside town had 12,000 tonnes of sand trucked in to form artificial dunes only for the whole lot to be washed away three days later.
A project raised 600,000 US dollars (£468,000) to bring in the sand to act as protection for homes and roads in Salisbury, Massachusetts.
The work, which took several weeks, was completed just three days before a storm on Sunday’s hit southern New England with strong winds, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding.
The Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change group, which facilitated the project and helped raise funds, posted on social media about the project’s completion last week and then again after the storm.
They argued the project still was worthwhile, noting that “the sacrificial dunes did their job” and protected some properties from being “eaten up” by the storm.
It is the latest round of severe storms in the community and across Massachusetts, which already suffered flooding, erosion and infrastructure damage in January.
Sand replenishment has been the government’s go-to method of shore protection for decades. Congress has long appropriated money for such work, arguing it effectively protects lives and property and sustains the tourism industry.
But critics say it is inherently wasteful to keep pumping sand ashore that will inevitably wash away.
Climate change is forecast to bring more bad weather, such as hurricanes, to the north east of the United States as waters warm, some scientists say.
Worldwide, sea levels have risen faster since 1900, putting hundreds of millions of people at risk, the United Nations has said.
And erosion from the changing conditions jeopardises beaches the world over, according to European Union researchers.
Hard structures, like sea walls, are not allowed on Massachusetts beaches.
Still, others questioned the logic of continuing to replenish the sand.
Resident Peter Lodi responded to the Salisbury beach group’s Facebook post, saying he was not sure why anyone was shocked.
“Throw all the sand down you want. Mother nature decides how long it will protect your homes,” he wrote.
“It’s only going to get worse. Not sure what the solution is but sand is merely a bandaid on a wound that needs multiple stitches.”