Bill Greene/Globe Staff

Residents of Plum Island dealt with the damage from Friday's high tide that affected several homes on the beach. A few months ago, homeowners paid for a controversial beach-scraping, in which bulldozers used sand to build a dune in front of houses.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

Plum Island has been continually reshaped by storms over the years. A resident Kathy Connors showed a picture from several years ago before the dunes were washed away.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

Studies have found that beach-scraping actually exacerbates the erosion.The storm washed the dunes and more away.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

Sam Joslin, the building commissioner for Newbury, said the beach-scraping had “at least saved us until the next event.”

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

Workers moved sand in front of damaged houses on the beach in an effort to protect them from the next high tide.