DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. – Folks along the coast of Volusia County are preparing in case an impending storm has a coastal impact.
“We removed all of our traffic control signs, our towers, and everything that could float away off the beach for these extreme high tides that we’re expecting,” Deputy Chief Tammy Malphurs with Volusia Beach Safety said.
Malphurs said that’s on top of the close to 10-foot waves predicted and sweeping rip tides.
“We are strongly encouraging everyone to stay out of the water, it’s not the place to be this weekend,” she said.
Parts of Volusia’s coast is still untouched from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole last fall and the officials said even more erosion is possible this weekend.
“There are some concerns that we will have some erosion, maybe some damage, but right now it’s too soon to tell,” Malphurs said.
The county said it has a Trap Bag sandbag system behind properties that still have damage.
“We anticipate that the trap bags as they are installed should hold up to this type of surf. We’ve had a couple of bigger storms since they’ve been installed, and they held up well,” the county’s Public Works director Ben Bartlett said.
The county will be monitoring the fragile sites through this weekend.
Then, even after the storm passes, beach safety will still be on high alert.
“We are flying the red flag for hazardous conditions. We expect to fly the red flag over the next couple of days and leading into next weekend for those hazardous rip current conditions,” Malphurs said.
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