Folly was a good name for that beach...
Yep. There's too much force in surge. Only things that can survive it are exotic, ridiculously expensive buildings like "The Dome Home" in Pensacola.
The solution is to simply not build any more buildings intended for permanent habitation in the potential storm surge zones from Brownsville to Montauk. If people want to spend a vacation on the beach, you have a small, flimsy vacation cottage on the immediate beach, with the permanent buildings, restaurants, etc. 3-4 miles inland.