FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. – While Central Florida’s coast didn’t take a direct hit from Hurricane Debby, the storm surge and ocean were pretty rough. So much so that Flagler Beach residents on Monday woke up to a 6-foot cliff in the sand along the ocean shore.
The Army Corps of Engineers and Flagler County have been working on a dredging project and using the sand to reinforce the dunes and widen the beaches. The sand used for the project partially washed back into the ocean along the stretch where the cliff appeared.
The strong storm surge on top of high tide was likely to blame, according to the county. But Flagler County officials said the project worked as it should.
They said the extra sand provided a larger barrier for the dunes and State Road A1A and will likely wash back up later.
“As the waves are larger and more erosive along the coast, the sand will be transported slightly offshore to break the waves further away from the coastline,” Flagler’s Coastal Engineering Administrator Ansley Wren-Key wrote. “It is a natural process of how the beach protects the dunes and infrastructure behind it.”