Indian Rocks Beach, Florida — INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. (AP) — White sand beaches along a wide swath of Florida’s Gulf Coast were hit by three hurricanes last year, creating a catastrophic Multi-million dollar efforts to restore the coastline It is the economic engine of the region.
Crews are working with bulldozers, trucks and pipelines along the 35-mile (56-kilometer) beach in Pinellas County that includes towns such as Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Bellaire Beach and Redington Beach. It is a major tourist destination still recovering from Hurricanes Helen, Milton, and Debbie.
It was Helen The most destructive For the beach towns, even though they reach land in the north. Twelve people died in Pinellas County due to powerful storm surges that reached 8 feet (2.4 m) in height in some places.
In past years, the US Army Corps of Engineers played a major role in beach restoration, but not this time. The Corps wants private landowners to sign up for perpetual easements that would allow the government access in perpetuity — a change that has met with stiff resistance.
So Pinellas County is restoring the beach itself, spending more than $125 million in tourism tax revenue to cover the costs. The county also has an easement program, but because some property owners don’t sign up, there will be gaps in beach replenishment that could lead to damage in future storms.
“We can’t do it as well as we can,” Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton said. “Our desire is to put sand on as much of the beach as possible.”
The project calls for the use of 2.5 million cubic yards (1.9 million cubic metres) of sand dredged and pumped from the sea. In places where property owners have refused to sign easements, new sand is placed toward the bay side of the beach, which is public. Beaches are widened by up to 100 feet (30 m).
For her part, Army Corps She said she couldn’t justify spending millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on beach replenishment without permanent easements to allow access.
“The Corps cannot build a project with loopholes due to the loss of easements,” the agency said in a statement. “An engineered project authorized by Congress cannot provide the level of protection when built with loopholes.”
These gaps mean that properties with dunes and a stretch of beach may be next to others with none — and that’s where storm surge in future hurricanes will head.
In the past, the Army Corps paid about 65% of beach restoration costs. Now, Pinellas County is footing the bill alone, with money allocated to build the Tampa Bay Rays’ new baseball stadium and associated development that fell through.
The team’s current stadium, Tropicana Field, was severely damaged in Hurricane Milton last October but is being repaired in time for next season. The Rays were sold to a new group of investors this year, and where the team will play in the future remains in limbo.
Public Works Director Kelly Hammer Levy said the county will never be able to afford work on the beach like this again.
“This is the last and only time,” she said. “So it’s really important that we have federal support moving forward.”