The Norton Point breach opened on Dec. 27 and followed a series of storms that had battered the south-facing shore of Martha’s Vineyard. The Chappaquiddick summer home owned by Sue and Jerry Wacks stands as a lonely sentinel by the sea these days.

Ten thousand years ago, a fierce wind struck southern Massachusetts and an old and great white pine collapsed. Down it fell with a splash, sinking into the cold wet muck at the bottom of a pond it bordered.

Erosion on the Island’s coastline — a process as old and familiar as the Island itself — has accelerated to a point of critical concern this winter, battering South Beach, flattening dunes in Katama, flooding key intersections and roadways and crumbling cliffs at Lucy Vincent and Squibnocket.

In a major step for coastal resiliency planning on the Vineyard, a combined total of nearly $400,000 in competitive, state grants were awarded to the three down-Island towns.

The intense winter storm followed by extremely frigid temperatures caused severe tidal erosion and sent Island plumbers scrambling on frozen pipe calls over the weekend.

A plan of action for the eroding East Chop Bluff is taking shape in Oak Bluffs, where the town recently received state funding to get started on a substantial restoration.