VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Dozens of properties along the coast in Volusia County are still vulnerable with little protection after last year’s hurricanes ate away at the dunes behind them.
Now, the storm surge that came in on Monday created a bigger problem for many of those residents.
Chunks of dunes and some wooden walkovers that were just installed have been washed away again, and many temporary protections that had been put in place went with them.
“Now, with this storm coming in before May 1, there’s even bigger concerns because we’ve lost some of our preemptive things, and there’s permits that aren’t through yet,” Property Manager Krista Goodrich said.
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With turtle nesting season around the corner, state officials said property owners must have beach work permits by May 1 to start or continue the work past that date. Otherwise, they’ll have to wait until the end of the nesting season in the fall.
Goodrich said many of the homes she watches over still haven’t been worked on after the hurricanes in November.
“My owners have not gotten structural engineers’ drawings back, and there’s just been a lot of miscommunications about what’s needed and what’s not needed, so we don’t feel they’re going to have their permits by May 1,” she said.
On top of waiting for permits, funding is an issue for many.
“A lot of people have said, ‘Well, they’re wealthy. They can live right on the beach,’ but that doesn’t mean they’re sitting on $2 million in cash. Insurance doesn’t cover sand. Insurance doesn’t cover the beach backyard. It covers the structure,” Goodrich said.
Others who were able to start work ran into problems with Monday’s storm, too.
“Now, because of the weather, we’re at a setback at this point,” said Lisa Amato, manager for the Ocean Club South condos in New Smyrna Beach.
Amato said they were hoping to finish their seawall this week because they finally had a few tons of sand delivered, but it washed away in the surge.
“Everyone’s trying to get everything done as quickly as they can, and then you have a setback like this, and we’re starting from scratch again,” she said.
She added that now, it’s a matter of coming up with funding for replacements, and securing more sand and workers, which could take a long time.
“It’s a money thing. It’s a time and effort thing by trying to get contractors engineers, and it’s just the way of this world now on the coast,” she said.
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