In October last year, the storm Babet moved in over Skåne, with many damages to houses and property as a result. Some of those affected are Ammi and Jonas Janebrant, whose holiday home was destroyed.
– It was a shock that it was so badly destroyed, says Ammi Janebrant.
The storm swallowed Santa
When Jonas and Ammi Janebrant arrived at their holiday home in Smygehamn last autumn, there was a full storm and the sea had swallowed trees, bushes and half the plot. They realized that it was dangerous and drove home to Malmö again.
The next day they returned and then the house hung in the air.
– It was impossible to imagine that it could be like that. We went under the gable of the house, up onto a sloping base plate, into an empty bedroom. Everything had been washed into the sea, says Jonas Janebrant.
Bureaucratic jungle
The work to restore the house and, above all, to protect it against future storms has been laborious. The insurance did not cover the damage. Above all, they have experienced the process of building a shelter as a bureaucratic jungle with multiple permit trials.
– You read on the county board’s website right after the storm that there would be no problem restoring plots and things that were destroyed. As long as they were approved and legal. Nevertheless, we are met by the fact that they choose to review everything that the municipality had then approved. There is a feeling that you are working against the authorities and not with them, says Jonas Janebrant.
Losing unique sandy beaches
After the storm Babet, researchers with various expertise from Lund University have reacted to the fact that more is not being done to protect the coast against erosion.
– It is serious in that we do not have the tools we need to deal with these problems today structurally and with legislation. What is happening is that we are losing sandy beaches and important habitats for species along the coast. We are destroying nature and recreational areas, says Caroline Hallin, coastal engineer and researcher at Lund University of Technology.
Politicians must take responsibility
As an individual property owner, you can only protect yourself through hard protections, such as laying out stone, as the Janebrant couple have now done. But it will lead to the sandy beaches disappearing in the long run, say the researchers.
Sand reclamation, that is to say that sand is laid out over long stretches on the beach and in the sea, is a way of preserving the beaches. The researchers call on politicians to take responsibility.
Actions need to be financed
– This is a consequence of climate change that the beaches will erode more. Climate adaptation, I think, needs to be raised to a higher level and more funding is needed for climate adaptation measures, says Caroline Hallin, coastal engineer and researcher at Lund University of Technology.
The Janebrant couple agree.
– So the whole of southern Sweden will need some type of protection if the country is not to shrink in the long term. I think the state must take a fairly large responsibility in that too, says Ammi Janebrant.