Camuy, Puerto Rico, March 15, 2018 – A sand dune along

Camuy, Puerto Rico, March 15, 2018 – A sand dune along the coast of northern Puerto Rico that has been compromised by beach erosion and human interaction. The wooden pallets have been deliberately placed in the damaged dunes to serve as sand accumulation barriers. The sticks are pieces of pallets (biomimicry matrices) to simulate the effect of plants and other natural objects in accumulating wind-blown sand. This mitigation technique is designed to accelerate the distribution and accumulation of sand in compromised areas of the beach in a manner that will uniformly recover and restore the protective dune "barriers" in Puerto Rico. University of Puerto Rico technical advisers periodically inspect beach erosion in Camuy, PR. FEMA partners with federal agencies, the state, local communities, counties, municipalities, volunteer organizations active in disaster (VOAD) and tribal entities to provide assistance to disaster survivors and local communities. Photo by Christopher Mardorf / FEMA.