(© FlaglerLive)
| Hurricane Nicole coverage: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Damage assessment, Part I | Damage assessment, Part II | A1A Reopens |
County Engineer Faith al-Khatib knew what she was going to find when she returned to State Road A1A early this morning, after surveying the area last night at sundown, just before Tropical Storm Nicole’s waves attacked the shore.
“It’s worse. Much worse” than in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, al-Khatib said of the damage to the road. But she could have anticipated it. After Hurricane Ian and natural erosion since 2018, there was nothing left to protect the shore, and all efforts to get a federal dune rebuilding project going–a project that would have almost certainly helped spare damage to the road–were delayed because of private property hold-outs who wouldn’t sign easements allowing the government to work on their land, to protect their land.
And it was all preventable. “We predicted what could happen,” al-Khatib said.
That’s what al-Khatib and Al Hadeed, the county attorney who spent two years acquiring those easements, were finding so disheartening after they’d completed their survey this afternoon, as they stood at the intersection of South 17th Street and State Road A1A as an excavator shredded what was left of the jagged road surface around two huge craters eating into the road.
“What I learned the most from it was the pattern of the destruction,” Hadeed said of his survey today. “For instance, to see like from Washington Oakes all the way down to Mala Compra Road. What were the factors contributing to the flooding conditions? We realized that so much of the volume was ocean water, not stormwater. It wasn’t a stormwater driven increase in the water volume that was existing up there. And because of that, that means you have an unknown volume, a constant volume of water that you cannot control. Its downstream effect was very obvious. And there were breaches along the way.” The water’s volume compounded as it moved south. “There were significant breaches there and literally a river flowing south on that road, and it was going into the conservation area that Flagler has there at the end of Mala Compra Road.”
The damage at the north end was from flooding due to breaches in the weakened or non-existent dune system. The damage to the south was to A1A, but again due to the weakened or nonexistent dune system. The lesson is almost elementary” Flagler County was left defenseless from north to south. The county knew it was defenseless. Absent immediate measures to rebuild the dunes–measures that have not been forthcoming–it was a matter of time before a catastrophe would result. Luckily for the county, Nicole was only a distant, not a direct, hit. Even so, it was a reminder that neither tropical storms nor hurricanes need to strike the Flagler coast to have catastrophic consequences, when a minimum line of defense is gone.
Al-Khatib said she wouldn’t be surprised if the Florida Department of Transportation again redesigned the entire length of A1A south of the pier because of the “serial” damage, as Hadeed describes it–every few blocks, down and past the county line with Volusia, with some stretches that appeared unscathed.
“It’s not concentrated to one area,” Al Hadeed, who’d spent the morning and half the afternoon surveying the coastline with al-Khatib from Washington Oakes Gardens State Park to South 25th Street in Flagler Beach. They couldn’t go much further south than that because the road is closed past the water tower. It is too damaged to allow road traffic.
A breach at the north end of the county:
Just before Nicole struck, DOT was dumping 500 cubic yards of sand per day, at $125 a cubic yard, along a long stretch of A1A south of the Flagler Beach water tower. Not only is that sand gone. Waves carved out sections of road, just as they did further north.
(Matt Doughney/Flagler Beach Police Department)” width=”650″ height=”615″ class=”size-medium wp-image-183088″ /> A carve-out at the south edge of the county on A1A. (Matt Doughney/Flagler Beach Police Department)Same story south of 5th Street South in Flagler Beach: A1A is closed to traffic down to South 16th Street, or most of the length of the $22.4 million reconstruction of A1A in 2019, after Hurricane Matthew chopped it up. The $22.4 million included the cost of a sea wall at the north end of town, but it did not include $5 million already spent in 2016 for emergency repairs to the road, to make it drivable again until the more permanent repairs. The sea wall held through Nicole’s fury. South A1A did not.
Hurricane Matthew had ravaged a stretch of 1.4 miles between South 7th and South 23rd Street. Nicole did damage along a more lengthy stretch.
“Because the tidal events events of the past, including storms, with no renourishment,” Hadeed said, “the beach was very, very vulnerable to subsequent storms, and it became more and more vulnerable, greater and greater loss, until Nicole came and there was nothing to stop its force, nothing to retard or mitigate the force of what it was able to do to the dunes, because the dunes were essentially naked.”
Several breaches occurred at the north end of the county from Washington Oakes State Park down to Mala Compra Road, creating a river of floodwaters flowing south, inundating Bay Drive and the half dozen streets to its north in that small subdivision where half the homes are elevated. Floodwaters flowed into Sea Colony, though there have not been widespread reports of flooding into homes.
In Flagler Beach, Eric Cooley, the city commissioner who owns the 7-Eleven on South 4th Street, within view of the pier, was at work today–he did not alter business hours at any point during the storm–when he witnessed another section of the pier fall into the water. He also kept seeing waves crash over the boardwalk onto A1A. “In all the years I;ve lived here, it’s never breached this part of town,” he said. “It’s higher than I’ve ever seen it living here.”
He also saw Hadeed and al-Khatib seemingly dive into the rocks on the beachside during the storm as they went on making their assessments. “Her and Al were unequivocally hands on up and down the beach,” Cooley said. I was very thankful and grateful to Faith and Al, they didn’t just check it, they were all down there.”
Mayor Suzie Johnston crossed paths with the county engineer and the attorney as well as she was documenting the storm’s ravages on the shore (with her daughter) at the height of high tide, with waves crashing and spraying the pair from time to time. She described seeing A1A transformed into a river in various parts. “We will get with the team, with DOT,” she said, and move on.
With DOT again set to rebuild A1A, the question will be asked: what will happen to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer project, ostensibly planned for early summer 2023, to rebuild 2.6 miles of dunes with 1.3 million cubic yards of sand dredged from a borrow pit several miles offshore?
“We had the funding, we had that desire, we had the permit to do our project almost two years ago,” al-Khatib said. The plan is to still go ahead with the project next year, though one hold-out’s easement remains unsigned. There’s no question that DOT’s plans will go forward regardless. The state agency has been a good partner, al-Khatib said, including mobilizing two contractors today within hours.
“We reported on our findings in Flagler Beach, drove north,” Hadeed said, “we stopped at all our places, came back, and they had the contractors on site.”
There is yet another high tide coming this evening, but the waves are not expected to be as damaging. Still, against a shore so weakened, even less damaging waves can. with repetition, cause more erosion. County officials will be working frenetically in the weeks and months ahead to have more meaningful protections in place. Otherwise, it would be a repeat of what Hadeed called a “consistently deteriorating condition,” with predictable results.
Meanwhile as the ocean began to recede toward low tide and waves began to fold back into calmer rolls as the day progressed, Flagler Beach residents on the Intracoastal side of the island watched as waters there rose steadily, flooding streets and avenues and dozens of homes. Flagler Avenue north and south of State Road A1A turned into a river and was closed to traffic. Palm Avenue became impassable.
Lambert Avenue was not impacted, but many properties on the Intracoastal side of it were as if lakes with homes springing up from their center, some of them above the water line, some of them not so much. There was no definition between the intracoastal and the property’s yards. It was all one body of water.
But just after 4 p.m., the tide had crested and it began to recede. Of course, the whole cycle was to repeat again tonight, first on the oceanside, then on the Intracoastal side. Still, rescue personnel was actively helping residents escape the waters, and by then power cuts in the county had risen from a few hundred in the morning to over 6,000 by 5 p.m.: Nicole’s impacts were far from ove: Though Hurricane Nicole has passed, the next two high tides, at 9 p.m. tonight and 9 a.m. Friday, will impact water levels in Flagler County and along the intracoastal.
John Bryl took and provided the following video of 23rd Street South today in Flagler Beach:
Flagler County lifted its evacuation order in early afternoon and announced the closing of its lone shelter at Rymfire Elementary.
Because of flooding, several Flagler County Parks are closed until further notice because of flooding caused by Hurricane Nicole – Herschel King Park, Bings Landing, Moody Boat Ramp, Bull Creek Fish Camp, Russell Landing, Shell Bluff, and Princess Place Preserve.
The City of Palm Coast is currently in the recovery phase as it conducts a damage assessment city-wide to identify any potential safety hazards. City facilities, parks, and trails remain closed out of caution.
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Kat says
Thank you for getting this information to us. Up here in Marineland acres we are flooded and without power. I’m glad to read that there did not appear to be any loss of life or a widespread loss of homes.
Dennis C Rathsam says
When… When???? Will the goverment address this on going problem? Throw all the money you can find … but it wont solve the problem. Mother Nature doesnt give a rats ass about your ocean view! How many times do we bail these fools out? Everyones homeowner insurance pay,s the price. for these people. Ya,ll keep dumping sand on the beach, the ocean takes it away… Year after year Did yall hear the saying shoveling shit against the tide? No pier, no beach… Hurry up and wait…. As the problen escalates!!!! Where the hell is all these experts???? its time to move the road….period … Or u can deal with this problem til you all die.
Steve says
Probably One of the only things I will ever agree with you on. Move it now while you still have something to work with
Terry M says
EXACTLY!
The smart ass homeowners should have NO say in this matter!
PLANT THE DUNES!!! Don’t waste any more time and money on anything else! Very sad to see this keeps happening! There are GOVERNMENT DUNE PROGRAMS!
JUST DO IT!!!
Michelle says
Exactly. These homeowners should have no say so in this. This is a matter of saving the coast line. This is so disheartening. I love visiting Flagler.
pete says
You are right, you’re fighting mother nature and you’re not going to win. There’s no one going to win the way it’s being handled. How many times is it going to take until all these so called smart people see it.
Mark says
First time I agree with Dennis on anything.
Jimbo99 says
The way the system works is that the rest of us pay for something like this. There’s always a corporation & engineering firm that will be more than happy to get a contract to repair it and that just perpetuates the cycles. Tourism pays for a lot of this too. What the exact numbers are tax revenue & income. The masses are hostages. The homeowner’s insurance has tripled, it’s going up even more.
I think it’s time to realize that Daytona Ave is the new A1A in Flagler Beach. The rest of that is really worthless property on borrowed time. May sound like a “giving up” of sorts, the reality is it took years to fix it from 2016 & 2017 storms. It looked nice for a couple of years and now it’s destroyed again. The pier, they really need to rethink that location if they even rebuild it at all. I say, if Biden-Harris isn’t dropping billions to fix it on a National level, state of FL & Flagler county have no business sinking our hard earned into the entire coast of FL. Sorry that’s not a popular statement, but it’s just keeping it real.
St Augustine is going to have to come to terms with their main attraction. The Castillo de San Marcos area of downtown floods for every storm. It’s becoming Atlantis.
Bob says
You are right! There are two major steps to be taken.
1.) move A1A 300 yards inland by invoking eminent domain!
2.) build a break water/artificial reef 1/4 -1/2 mile off shore to break the surf before it reaches land. I suggest you contact the engineering firm used in Japan. They build breakwaters using concrete structures that resemble “Jax” that interlock with one another that forms an immovable break water.
Manufacture concrete on site at a temporary concrete batching plant, eliminating the need to truck in the concrete or finished material. Haul in the dry goods (aggregate, & concrete powder). Form the “Jax” on shore and then transport by barge the 1/4 – 1/2 mile for placement!
It’s time the county realizes that they are in over their head with this issue, and the Army Corps. Is not providing the correct solutions.
We now have 3 Counties along the East coast that have been severely impacted, join forces and bring world renounce engineers who are expert at this type of issue.
The time has come to reach the realization that repeating the same solution over and over again resulting in abject failure (yet expecting a different result) is the definition of insanity.
Time to wake up folks, our leadership has let us down, they have been since hurricane Floyd in the 90’s! It’s time they appeal to people who are infinitely more knowledgeable on this subject!
This was only a landfalling low level cat 1 hurricane (75 MPH) imagine if it was a high cat 4 like was just experienced on the west coast 6 weeks ago.
Keith Vinnicombe says
I totally agree. They are called Interlocking Concrete Tetrapods and are all around Japan. China and Europe is using them to. I’ve just come back from Portugal where you see them all around the coast. We need them now all along the dunes to stabilize them and to form breakwaters down the beach to anchor the sand movement. In 2018 28.3 million was thrown away using sand. On A1A 22 million was spent but nothing was done to stabilize the dune with concrete. The French Drain was a real success!!!
No more of our tax money can be spent on pumping and dumping sand.
Dianna Marlow says
I’m so sorry you ALL are having to endure so Much stress. I live in Orlando an still in shock unbelievable too. God Bless you ALL God Speed Dianne
Judith says
Moved to this area in 1974,it doesn’t have to be a BIG storm to create massive damage.
jeffery c. seib says
The entire state of Florida, because of its location, topography, and being surrounded by large bodies of water is in the crosshairs of the extreme forces of nature driven now by climate change. Both the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico are now warmer than at any time in human history. This scenario that we have witnessed lately will be repeated over and over, even worse, unless we wake up and begin to address this issue at all levels of government. This isn’t like flipping our government to a fascist dictatorship or declaring that tomorrow absolutely no vehicles of any kind are allowed to be driven. It’s a process that will take time but there is no time left to delay the start of that process. It’s science, so most folks won’t understand. But if there is anything that every person ever believed in in science like the polio vaccine or measles for your children then please believe in this.
Marty Reed says
Why in the world has the county attorney not invoked eminent domain against this holdout? If we lose that Federal funding, it seems to me that we have no one to blame but Flagler County government!
Terry M says
Well said!
They need to wake up!
Chuck Salvo says
Can we get an update on the eminent domain? Is it still in the works? The need to have 100% is an unrealistic request. Imagine asking for 100% agreement on any question. It is not possible or reasonable! Now the safety and security of our town is at risk and their is no choice except to do the nourishment of the beach and fix the road properly. Leaders, stop allowing an individual holdout to threaten our safety and town. It is time to lead and secure the funding and save Flagler Beach.
Greg says
Flagler County has very good leadership..They will do everything they can to get this out back together.
MarkK says
You are kidding Greg!
pete says
What Flagler County you talking about?
pete says
Where are the good leaders?
tom dooley says
the good leaders are in the mirror. not on this democratic web blog
Surely you Jest? says
I’ll have whatever Greg is Smokin…
Jason says
Flagler Beach in particular has very weak leadership as does Palm Coast! We have Mayor’s & Counsel members who are too concerned w/either arguing or banging one another! Sounds to me like you’re a transplant and don’t know much about the local inner workings
pete says
Weak is putting it mildly
Anthony says
Lousy leadership.
Aj says
Most are Republicans if not all. Wonder why Flagler County Government is weak, o yeah they are Repubs. Keep saying they are weak and keep voting for them, I find that to be very interesting.
tom dooley says
so your running right Jason? I can vote for you?
Deborah Coffey says
I’m glad everyone is alright. The destruction is heartbreaking. It’s hard to believe we can blow up the planet in a couple of days with nukes…but, we don’t know how to stop global warming…or, do we?
Monica campana says
No stopping it now. Maybe slow it down if we are persistent.
Joe says
Yes we can but big money thinks the money is more important. Hope they can eat and breath it down the line .
Roy Longo says
I hope the residents know how lucky they are to have an engineer of the caliber of Faith al-Khatib and an environmentalist attorney as Al Hadeed. They are both tireless workers trying to keep the county, and especially the beach and A1A safe for everyone. As to the holdouts, please walk out your front door and look at the results of your ignorance and selfishness.
pete says
LUCKY glad you think so
Keith Vinnicombe says
They should both be sacked. All the money should of been spent on concrete stabilizing the dune and building a sea wall. That French Drain really worked a treat when waves crashed over A1A. Concrete Tetrapods must be placed all along our dunes and on breakwaters down our beach so the sand is anchored.
Anthony says
It sure keeps looking like their patching and how they have did it isn’t working. Please start doing it correctly, so far your are failing.
Peaches McGee says
There is no viable solution for the future except to shift all structures 1/2+ mile west.
Mother, like Putin, is reclaiming her land.
Kara says
Wow! Really? Please don’t equate Mother Nature to Putin! That is just insulting to Mother Nature.
Peaches McGee says
The only viable future solution is to move all structures 1/2+ miles west.
Mother, like Putin, is reclaiming her land.
Merrill S Shapiro says
Be sure to contact our US Representative Michael Waltz to get the Federal Government involved! His Chief of Staff is Micah Ketchel. Email him at [email protected] Waltz’s Deputy Chief of Staff is Walker Barrett.
Email him at [email protected]. Waltz’s District Director is Ernie Audino. Email him at [email protected]
Lorna Ballard says
This is the most helpful comment so far!
Time to flood the Feds with our pleas for a solution.
Bethechange says
Can’t agree more, Dennis. Mother Nature gives and takes in coastal areas. How many decades do humans fight it, only to eventually acknowledge it’s spitting in the gale? Look at maps of st Augustine from 600 years ago. There was no Anastasia state park area; Salt Run was the Atlantic Ocean. Surely environmental engineers can design an actual, viable plan for that stretch. Painful, yes. But let it go!
The Geode says
Nature. Still undefeated…
Time to Rock Out says
We dump rocks from now on not waste our money on Sand. Millions of dollars of new sand is gone every time months later at the whim of the next storm and nobody learns the lesson to be taught. We need big heavy stones to break the waves, not sand where hundreds pounds washed away every single wave for days till our roads are undercut. Hell Look at the video from our neighbors to the South30 miles in Wilur By The sea, Look at whose swimming pools are now in the ocean and who’s property is relatively intact next door. The standing house Has a proper sea wall or Rock Berm not going anywhere, the Demolished home, had a sand berm.
Lance Carroll says
No way whatsoever is the damage from Nicole even close to what the damage, to A1A, that Matthew caused. Unless, one counts the $5 million of sugar sand placed last week that was, easily, washed away. Flaglerlive: please show photos of A1A damage caused by Matthew compared to Nicole? The public is interested to see the documentation.
Carolamae says
I believe I read it was down to one holdout, a female owner. I lost patience with the issue a year ago. Something akin to a seawall or jetties or SOMETHING of a more permanent solution could’ve at least been started to protect more vulnerable A1A between S 6th -S 16th & the flooding streets in the S 20s. Such a shame.
Skibum says
It is definitely time to wake up and smell the coffee. So many Floridians only worry and take storms seriously if it is going to be a CAT 3 or more like Matthew. Well, here we are. This one was just barely above tropical storm strength, a low level CAT 1 hurricane. It wasn’t even a direct hit to our coastal beach area, and just look at the devastation it caused to our beaches, dunes, and A1A road surface. Not to mention all of the damaged and destroyed homes and high rise condos in Daytona Beach Shores and Wilbur by the Sea! We cannot over emphasize the plain and simple fact that climate change has and will continue to help make these storm systems more catastrophic regardless of the band-aid measures that local and state government agencies try to put in place to shore up the protective dunes. Man is no match for the awesome power of Mother Nature. If people want to continue to spend their own money to build right on the ocean’s edge, fine, go ahead. But government agencies need to STOP spending taxpayer dollars to support those individual’s desire to have a front row seat to a great view today, but the potential for complete disaster tomorrow. Infrastructure payed for by taxpayer dollars should be built where it is safe and will outlast what Mother Nature throws at us.
Joseph Barand says
Republicans, Conservatives and Evangelists are getting exactly what they want and deserve…. Destruction of Florida’s coast line because they have blocked every fix the experts tried to implement. So now they reap the spoils of 50 years of being climate deniers. Keep electing Republican, conservative and Evangelist fools and the new beach will be the Eastern Bank of the ICW.
Joey Donuts says
What fixes are you referring to that would have prevented this? I can understand having a sea wall or better barriers and not building on top of sand but what do you mean by “climate deniers” that would have stopped a hurricane? If we all drove $50,000 electric cars, would that have stopped the hurricane? (by the way, where does the electricity for those cars come from? what is the impact on the earth to mine the precious minerals that are needed for electric cars? what happens when the batteries and other hazardous materials have to be disposed of?) Common sense and well planned long term solutions are needed for Flagler. But voting for Democrat, liberal fools won’t make any difference
Jason says
Clueless Is putting it mildly to blame issues like beach erosion on a specific Political Party, but sense we’re on the subject let’s talk about Eric Cooley & his Rino gf Johnston who failed to obtain said funds for FB! Let’s also talk about the single hold out homeowner who doesn’t want a seawall on the Southern end of town. Please, go back to wherever you moved from as there’s no room for you Communist Cucks here
FlaglerLive says
The commenter is misrepresenting the cause of the city’s failure to land a tourism grant. See: “Flagler Beach Misses Deadline on $739,000 Tourism Grant. It had 18 Months to Apply. And an Extension.” and “Flagler Beach Mayor Files Grant On Her Own, Underscoring Grievance With Manager Over Serial Fails.”
jake says
This is a great example of a dog chasing it’s tail. Mother Nature will always win.
pete says
Yes it is Jake, A bunch of leaders chasing tail it’s what they do best.
William Markert says
Fire the people who have been making these terrible decisions. Start over with three new stooges, because plan B cannot be any worse than what we have all witnessed. P.S. the answer is not,feeding the ocean more sand,duh.
Sandman says
Ocean water levels are rising very FAST. Another Antarctica ice shelf just broke off the continent and will cause more water to rise in 3 years. People have to learn you can’t fight Mother Nature. Flagler Beach doesn’t have more then 10 years before the whole island will be under water. But you fools keep building more homes and apartments. Next year SUPER HURRICANES will begin to carve out the rest of Flagler Beach. Goodbye Cruel World !!!
Wow says
Developers don’t actually care what happens to you after they have sold you your castle on the water. They walk away and FEMA shells out money every time you flood. Good deal for them.
pete says
Agree 100%
For Real says
Each hurricane season they continue to put bandaides on fixing A1A in Flagler Beach and each year we see how their patching here and there is not working. How about getting engineers to come up with a solution that works.
pete says
Call the PRO S.E. CLINE PALM COAST And get the job done RIGHT
tom dooley says
ha ha ha you have got to be joking right? a good one though i love it. lol
Chuck Salvo says
Can we get an update on the eminent domain? Is it still in the works? The need to have 100% is an unrealistic request. Imagine asking for 100% agreement on any question. It is not possible or reasonable! Now the safety and security of our town is at risk and their is no choice except to do the nourishment of the beach and fix the road properly. Leaders, stop allowing an individual holdout to threaten our safety and town. It is time to lead and secure the funding and save Flagler Beach.
can'tfoolme says
Are they just dumping sand under the roadway again or are my eyes playing tricks? Why has there not been a proper road bed of concrete pillars constructed under the paving? It appears to be a mostly sand foundation so why expect it to withstand waves…..was the Corp of Engineers not involved with the former “repair”?
pete says
That’s the problem they were and are involved along with the DOT and Flagler county. How many times do you do it and fail to learn you don’t know what your doing. Need to get Cline in Palm Coast along with a couple more contractors in the area to do it and do it right. If it means NOT having water front homes to make room for a highway then do it and be done with it. States take peoples property everyday to improve roads and highways, this happens to be the same thing. Lets wake up and smell the roses.
Laurel says
Some comments here sound as if ocean side dwellers pay no taxes or insurance. You may be surprised at what different people pay in taxes up and down the coast of Florida. In Manalapan, for example some homes were taxed above $50K, annually, over 10 years ago. If these folks do insure their homes, believe me, it’s much higher than your insurance. Many do not insure, and therefore, do not receive insurance benefits.
Another statement here is to move the road westward. Your tax dollars would be needed to purchase each building, and each business in order to accomplish this unreasonable feat. It’s not going to happen. It’s a very unrealistic viewpoint. It also would simply delay the inevitable for your children and grandchildren to deal with all over again.
The fact of the matter is, this is a result of humans ignoring our planet and treating it as if it were infinite. No, it isn’t, but we humans are finite. This planet will eventually take back its dominance and will succeed very well without us. Meanwhile, enjoy it while you can.
John says
50+yrs ago I had a class on global warming. More threatening than one could imagine and never thought it would happen in my life time. I pray something will be left for my great grandchildren.
Betty says
Same old stupid crap!!!! Of course this is going to happen over and over. Leader ship and whoever’s making these decisions is total fool. The problem will never solve itself until you remove A1 A and move it further back away from the ocean. It doesn’t take a rocket science to figure out you can’t have structures 50 foot from the water’s edge.
Laurel says
Betty: You gonna buy up all the properties and businesses along A1A? I don’t think rocket science is your forte. Clearly, all of you who feel the government should possess and remove people’s livelihoods and homes do not live, or have a business, near the beach. I also have the feeling it isn’t because y’all are so much more clever than those who do.
pete says
If it’s not bought up the ocean is going to get it for free
Joe says
And for all the wackos this has nothing to do with global warming. Of course but they imagine it is. You cannot build roads houses structures that close to the ocean , what would you expect going to happen.
Keith Vinnicombe says
Four years ago I wrote in the Observer that it was lunacy to spend 28.3 million on sand and it all should be spent on concrete. All that sand and much more has been washed away. We need today to be placing interlocking concrete tetrapods to protect what’s left of our dunes and placed down the beach as breakwaters to stop the sand from being swept down the beach. Faith al Khatib and the FDOT spent 22.4 million on A1A but did nothing to stop the sea from undermining and crashing over the road and I see her French Drain really worked well!!! All of that money should of been spent on concrete tetrapods and a seawall. We have to protect the barrier islands because they protect the rest of Florida. No more throwing our tax money away dumping and pumping sand unless it is to make concrete.
FlaglerLive says
The commenter is partly misinformed. The $22.4 million DOT spent in 2019 was in part to rebuilt A1A, in part to build the seawall at the north end of Flagler Beach, to Beverly Beach. Both projects were entirely FDOT designs, including the French drains. Faith al-Khatib is the county engineer. She had, and has, no role in DOT project designs, funding or construction. Two obstacles stood in the way of sea walls at the south end of Flagler Beach: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ planned 2.6 miles of beach renourishment would not have gone forward had sea wall construction been planned there, and Flagler Beach residents, and the city commission, have resisted sea walls in that area, though that resistance may be waning to a degree.
Anthony says
Get your act together FB residents. If there is a solution to stop the damage on A1A go for it.
Ext says
Who in their right mind would order powder sand after Ian hit. Spending thousands and possibly millions for powder sand , now it’s all washed away or covered A1A. Somebody needs to wake up that was the biggest joke I have ever seen in this City. It’s been going on for over 20 years. First it was the stones then course sand. It’s time for a sea wall or we won’t have A1A.
Bill C says
What’s that saying, doing the same thing 99 times in a row then expecting a different result the 100th time as the definition of crazy? Time to think outside the box. A1A should never have been built that close to the beach in the first place, needs to be rerouted further west.
Laurel says
Bill C.: Where exactly? Please be specific.
Linda Hagman says
Why not publish the name of the “hold out”…then we, the residents of Flagler Beach can take out a class action lawsuit against this individual for endangering our lives and homes. By the way, there are technologies (think of Amsterdam) which can mitigate wave action and it doesn’t involve destroying our city.
Laurel says
Linda H.: How exactly was you life in danger? Publishing a person’s name sounds like mob mentality.
A seawall, or dike like in Amsterdam, means no beach whatsoever, though further research of different countries should be encouraged.
Doug says
This article is a power grab. Blaming it on the one woman that would not grant an easement is quite dishonest. The one easement issue the county has is on the north side, not the south where the damage was. Although I agree that holding out on the easement is pure stupidity on the land owners part let’s fault this appropriately. The design of a1a at the point of failure was flawed. It did not hold up to surf and the giant boulders placed there to protect the road obviously did nothing.
FlaglerLive says
The commenter is misinformed. Ms. Cynthia D’Angiolini’s property is in the 2500 block on the south side of Flagler Beach. The boulders had done the job subsequent o Hurricane Matthew’s reparations, but had since eroded and washed away in significant chunks, especially after Ian, leaving the shoreline extremely vulnerable. See: “Flagler Beach’s Tardy Dunes Project Is Down to a Single Holdout As Another Property Owner Signs Easement.”
Visitor says
I’m just an outsider but I love Flagler Beach and visit frequently. I just hope everyone realizes that finger pointing and laying blame isn’t going to help anything. Please find a way to come together as a community and speak with one voice. Educate yourself on the best remedy, and understand that some will have to compromise but you must stop fighting amongst yourselves. You’ll have much more power that way
pete says
Very well said
pete says
Your on the right track
Shark says
You can’t stop a storm with pebbles. Send the circus act in charge to Japan or China to get a real idea how to control the water!!!!
FLTHEFREE says
Ok here goes, I’d love any feedback.
1. Sand HAS to be a component of the solution. Dunes up and down the coast are far too narrow to repair at this point. Cost of continually chasing the next community that’s about to wash out to sea would leave us much like we are today, continually chasing our tail.
2. Does anyone remember the comprehensive engineering study that was completed a few years ago? Deliverables were extremely robust, included multiple options, phasing approaches (any solution certainly not a big bang or a quick fix), with solution recommendations ALL based on the PHYSICS of waves and wave energy absorption. Certainly won’t be cheap…
3. We have to choose: environmental policy (turtles over homes) or serious effort to implement a TRUE FIX that can then be responsibly maintained.
4. Why do we have to pump/dredge sand from 7 miles offshore for beach replenishment? Our waters extend 50+ miles at a very small depth gradient & there’s not much reef to even worry about. Understanding sand pump placement would need to be thoughtful, there’s no material reason sand/fill couldn’t be taken from distances inside one (1) mile from our existing coast lines.
5. Rebuild dunes, beach width, and most importantly the BEACH GRADIENT that previously existed which would allow the storm surge energy to be reduced within tolerances that greatly reduce the probability of significant erosion and coastal flooding that has become the norm since 2016. Fact is, coasts/dune replinishments haven’t been given enough time to mature and harden since Matthew. And now all our communities are too close to the CCCL for there to be much chance of turning the corner.
6. I’m not sure on the exact numbers, but: a:) pump sand parallel from coast until beaches are 400+ feet wide. b:) Move a volume of sand that corrects the GRADIENT issue. c:) Now continue pumping sand until we’ve got big fat/high dunes. With a, b, c in place we’ve given ourselves time for the beach and dunes to harden to pre Matthew status. d:) Plant and care for deep rooted Florida fauna. And finally, e:) learn from what our cross ocean allies are doing successfully and implement additional strategies as needed (breakwaters, large interlocking grids {could be buried}).
Lastly, if we can’t find a we way to take a monumental infrastructure approach at some similar scale of what I’ve outlined above, then we need to leave. We’re not going to win and the continual government/insurance/increased taxes required for the feds/state to keep taking non-holistic approaches will eventually be one of many policy directions that materially breaks something at a natural level. Perhaps that last sentence is a bit dramatic, but at least I feel better for finally getting my personal thoughts down on how this enormous problem should be approached. It’s nearly a man-on-the-moon level project that would define the majority of many people’s careers.
Re-reading everything… I think it’s definitely time to relocate once the dunes look nice again and the next wave of New England boomers are looking to migrate south.
FLTHEFREE says
…breaks something at a “NATIONAL” level, not “NATURAL”