Holiday nightmare in Hvide Sande, Denmark – Summer home owner despairs:

– There are tiles under here, says 78-year-old Hans Lund-Thomsen to TV Midtvest, as he frantically tries to shovel away large amounts of sand from the terrace of the summer house in Hvide Sande on the Danish west coast.

It was Dagbladet Ringkøbing-Skjern that first told the story of how Lund-Thomsen’s summer house is about to be swallowed by sand.

When the 78-year-old recently met the TV team, he had not been in the summer house since Christmas.

In just over three months, almost half a meter of sand had accumulated on the terrace. The western end of the house was almost one with the sand dune that screens the North Sea.

– It’s absolutely horrible. When I was here last, you could open the doors into the swimming pool. There are two doors over there, he says, pointing to a window half buried in sand.

Dramatic development

Sanddyna, which has now almost become part of the summer house, has really taken off in recent years.

The change is noticeable if you compare aerial photos from 2017 and 2023.

Although sand drift and shifting dunes are not a new problem for holiday home owners on the west coast of Denmark, this case is extreme, emphasizes Hanne Kvist Jensen, dune manager on the Årgab-Hegnet stretch in Hvide Sande.

Jensen has patrolled the coast for 26 years

– I have only experienced one other case. They ended up demolishing the summer house and building a new one further back on the plot, she tells TV Midtvest.

Considering sale

The expert says it is not an easy matter to overcome the problem, as Lund-Thomsen’s summer house is located in a dune protected area.

A permit is then required to remove sand, and the 78-year-old is unlikely to get a dispensation to remove as large quantities of sand as he needs.

Lund-Thomsen says he is considering selling the summer house if anyone wants to buy it. The sand problem has become bigger than the 78-year-old pensioner can handle.

In the meantime, he takes hold of the shovel.

– Some sand must be removed anyway, because there will be guests on Saturday.