Workers have been dumping new white sand at the rate of 590 cubic yards a day to buttress the dunes and protect State Road A1A from the Flagler Beach city limit down into Ormond By the Sea.
Yet Flagler Beach itself, including the area at the heart of the city that has eroded even more since Hurricane Ian, remains critically defenseless.
The shoreline just north of the Flagler Beach pier experienced a sudden and catastrophic loss of sand volume before Hurricane Ian. The hurricane’s impacts carved out almost as much again, leaving the beach nonexistent at high tide. But the storm had left a cliff-like wall of sand just below the boardwalk.
Now, that sand is gone. The boardwalk is hanging over piles, like an extension of the pier, with gaping spaces beneath it and nothing left to protect either the boardwalk or State Road A1A behind it. That further erosion has taken place not because of a storm, but because of the natural ebb and flow of tides with nothing to impede them.
Yet the only construction taking place in the area is the city’s building of a new trash dump pad for the Funky Pelican, the restaurant in the city-owned property at the Flagler Beach pier.
On Thursday, Flagler County Emergency Manager Jonathan Lord issued a cautionary sort of be-on-the-lookout weather advisory about a “blob” of a storm east of the Bahamas that the National Weather Center was giving only a modest chance of turning tropical or becoming a hurricane. Still, Lord said, while the storm does not pose dangers of heavy rains or severe winds, as with Ian, it does have a higher likelihood of elevated tides and high waves that could batter the coast yet again and cause further damage to the dunes.
In places where there are no dunes, as in the heart of Flagler Beach, the damage could be to infrastructure. City officials have been saying since Ian that they’ve been in contact with the Department of Transportation to provide emergency sands where needed. A meeting between city officials, including City Manager William Whitson, and Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie in mid-October included discussion of needed sand replacements in the city, which was to require the city applying pressure on state agencies, including DOT, to follow through with added protection.
“I can’t thank all of our partners enough for listening to the city,” Whitson said. “I’d love to come up with 14,000 cubic yards of sand right now. But at the end of the day, it’s about the money. So we’re going to have to depend on our partners to step forward and they are prepared. And what they’re telling me is, they’re monitoring.” He spoke of the line-up of state, county and contractual “partners” ready to help. “We have appointments, tentatively set up for next week, to go out and look at it with them, to try to make sure we can shortcut all these things. And if we need to take emergency action, I’m assured that we can do that.”
Whitson spoke those reassuring words to his city commission almost three months ago, on Aug. 18, before Hurricane Ian struck.
Today, the only trucks and sand in evidence were those at the south end of the city, just past the water tower and the south border of the Gamble Rogers recreation area, where dunes were also deeply carved out, leaving barely a few feet between sand remnants and the bed of A1A. but there are no properties on the west side of A1A to speak of in that stretch of road–no homes, no businesses, no recreational areas, other than Gamble Rogers to the north, which the project is not touching. It appears to be an odd place to prioritize emergency dune reconstruction.
The Department of Transportation contracted with P&S Paving of Daytona Beach to carry out the job. The white sand is being trucked in from Hawthorne, between Palatka and Gainesville. (A request was placed with DOT for information on the the contract’s worth and its footprint. That request is pending.) Workers at the site said parts of the project includes the dumping of coquina rock along the dunes as further reinforcements, as at points further north. The coquina revetment further north was also considerably eroded by Ian.
Once a year or so the county’s public information office sends out an advisory, cautioning residents or visitors not to pick palmetto berries on public lands and along dunes. Flagler Beach and the county tourism office have expended efforts and money to protect what remains of the dunes and their vegetation, and last June the Transportation Department previewed a $500,000 “vegetation restoration” project “installed to fill in gaps and supplement existing vegetation” along the dunes of A1A from Beverly Beach to Ormond Beach.
Ian’s effects have ravaged those plans. The sand-dumping ongoing south of Flagler Beach has in parts entirely covered what remained of any vegetation in order to rebuild emergency dunes, the white sand blanketing the road shoulder and sloping down to the orange coquina sands on shore like a coating of snow. In some parts, the sand covers half the vegetation, leaving the other half closer to the road intact. And in some parts, the palmettos are tall enough to supplant the new sand barrier. “They’re trying their hardest not to mess with the vegetation,” a supervisor at the site said today.
“That’s what they ought to plant, palmettos the entire length, because they’ve held up good and protected it,” he said of the dune structure.
Witnessing the erosion from ground level is dramatic enough. But drone pictures taken today by Flagler Beach attorney Scott Spradley underscore the loss of sand–and the project’s attempt to provide at least some added protection. See below.
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Thomas says
They let the thick palmettos , bushes , sea oats , vines , palm trees that held the sand die off from Ormond “where it is still original and thick” lines north . You see the result .
James Mejuto says
This is what’s happening all along the coast of our country . . . the oceans claiming their own. Thanks to real climate change our beaches and lifestyle will fade into a new dimension.
Robin says
That “blob” is projected to bring strong winds, surf, rain and higher high tides (due to the full moon) next Tuesday & Wednesday.
🤞that our poor dunes and beaches hold up.
James Mejuto says
What happens after the beaches and dunes are lost forever? This is the future of Flagler Beach. Families who came here will disappear, except those who frequent the bars and restaurants . . . but how long will that last?
Welcome to the new world of global-climate change!
James Majuto's Fact Checker says
You do understand that beaches and dunes don’t just “disappear”. They move. Yes climate change is raising the sea levels, but that just means Flagler Beach will eventually be off US 1 instead of A1A in a hundred years.
Mark says
Flagler Beach won’t be off US 1, it will be lost to Davy Jones locker.
Hmmm says
Good. Just in time for another storm, to take that away plus more. Its just sad at this point. This dumping sand business is not sustainable.
Joe D says
Looks like the current sand replenishment at the SOUTH ( mostly unpopulated ) area of Flagler Beach might have been part of a GENERAL replenishment plan done weeks ago. But given “King Tides” due 11/7-11/9, and now the possibility of even higher STORM triggered higher tides 11/6–11/8, it would seem more prudent to work farther north, where the dune support might protect A1A and downtown property farther north of the current project. Unfortunately, I’ll bet there isn’t time to go through all the administrative hurdles to adjust the sand replenishment location at the last minute, due to this potential high tide storm approaching. It would be nice (although it’s now the WEEKEND, where most Administrative things grind to a halt). If the next loads of sand could be diverted slightly NORTH on Monday-Wednesday of next week, in response to the approaching storm with higher tides. The photos on this blog ALREADY show deep erosion under the downtown boardwalk AND under AIA as it appears. This new storm might do what Matthew did (snap A1A in half like a cookie along the medium) ….making A1A impassable…AGAIN and potentially flood low lying downtown property not protected with a sea wall as the northern edge of Flagler Beach is protected since Matthew ( did it’s job well during Ian)
I guess it all depends on what the original sand/beach plans were, and can Flagler representatives jump through government hoops fast enough to make plan changes in time to minimize additional property damage next week…not what Flagler needs at the moment
Shark says
Don’t these morons know that it’s the wrong type of sand. Have to use the same kind of sand that was there. Thousands of tons of it at Matanzas Inlet !!!!
FlaglerLive says
The same type of sand was not used when Flagler County rebuilt dunes for $18 million after Hurricanes Irma and Matthew (the dunes that have since washed away), nor will the same sand, dredged from a borrow pit offshore, be dumped on the 2.6 miles of beach the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is supposed to rebuild next year, south of the Flagler Beach pier. Coquina sand is unique to this region. There’s not enough of it to be recycled onto the beaches.
Lance Carroll says
Exactly. Beach renourishment with sugar sand melts away like sugar when the ocean makes contact with it. Like sands through the hourglass….
Thomas says
Coquina shells have and will continue to be replenished going forward and have existed since my first time 1961 and in color pictures 1940s . See Fort Mantanzas and Castillo De San Marcos 1500s . The way forward is replanting exactly like Ormond Beach looks and hiring the people Cancun used the cost of doing business . Flaglers lobbying to State and Federal is nonexistent .
Jimbo99 says
They need to rethink the new concrete pier at the current pier’s location. Might as well throw another $ 12.5 million into the Atlantic Ocean.
Mark says
A concrete pier would be substantially stronger and resilient against storms. What’s wrong with the location? Should they build it at the Bird Of Paradise lake, instead.
Joke's McKnee says
Well I’ll be golly… why did we NOT think of this much earlier?? We could have done so much good and prevented so much erosion!
This is a joke – a knee slapper ….. A true BAA-Dump-CHING
Thank you, thank you, I’nm here till December, or whenever the oceans cool down.
Donald J Trump says
Forget about Flagler Beach, when I get re elected in 2024 with the support of both houses of Congress, I will sign and Executive Order that mandates the vacating all of Flagler Beach all the way to the ICW. We can’t continue to waste monies on places that can afford their own upkeep. In order to cut taxes we need to stop wasteful spending, you know it, I know it and everyone knows it. When I win in 2024, there will never be a need for another election, more money saved for tax cuts. Be sure to get your name on my contributors list so I will “remember” you when time comes.
Coquina? says
Seems like rock berms are the answer, they don’t wash away and let native plants sprout up in their many crevices. Problem is that granite or whatever isn’t native to this area and being so heavy is expensive to transport here. What about the old coquina pits, now small lakes and ponds around here, My BL section house was one of the early homes built in Palm Coast and its facade is all Coquina, seems to stand the test of time, look at the forts in St Augustine! Maybe we should replenish the dunes with natural indigenous coquina harvested locally and when done, we are left with an attractive pond for wildlife.
Thomas says
They cant navigate the pier reconstruction faster than three years and you think they will saw out coquina rock ?
Stacy says
Heartbroken Flagler beach is so unique and special sad they are so cheap to put white sand down. So sad we can’t stop ruining everything. There’s got to be a better way
Bill C says
Anybody considered jetties? Jetties protect the shoreline of a body of water by acting as a barrier against erosion from currents, tides, and waves. They are even tourist attractions and fisherman like them too.
Steve says
There is no fixing it. The Coast will continue to be carved out by the forces of Mother Nature. It’s all a waste of Time, Money, Resources. Sad but true IMO
c says
Forget the sand. If they just lined the beachfront with $dollar bills it would probably hold up as well, and be cheaper in the long run.
PC Dave says
I’ve never understood why Flagler Beach has been so adamant about not installing sea walls. I’m not an engineer, so perhaps there are very good reasons that I am not aware of. I just think that at this point, they need to start being more proactive rather than reactive. This dump sand, sand washes away, dump more sand, wash rinse repeat cycle is futile at best. I think the city needs to move the battle front back. Install sea walls so A1A can be protected, then start refocusing on the beaches once that is done.
Ash says
It is NOT Flagler Beach that us against seawalls.. we have a seawall on the north side. It’s the holdouts that dont live here that refused to agree to it out of greed.
oldtimer says
The bottom line is flagler beach is basically a barrier island created by nature, they change over time and really aren’t meant to be built on. If you chose to live on one don’t be suprised at what nature can do, this happens all over the world on barrier islands not just Florida
Ash says
It’s not natural. The ICW was carved out by man…