Flagler County’s contractor for $3.67 million Hurricane Dorian dunes restoration project from south MalaCompra Park to north Washington Oaks Gardens State Park mobilized on Monday and construction will begin on Wednesday.
Flagler and Florida Beaches
Flagler County Nets $17 Million in State Aid for Dune Reconstruction, with Far More Needed
The money is a “drop in the bucket,” compared to the county’s needs, according to a county official: it is a fraction of what would be needed, considering the county’s devastated shoreline. But it will still enable the county to repair several miles of dunes with temporary renourishment, giving those repaired dunes perhaps two to four years against continuing erosion.
Army Corps Must Redesign Entire Flagler Beach Dunes Project, ‘Substantially’ Delaying It Again
Because of years of delays and further erosion, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must redesign the entire project to rebuild 2.6 miles of dunes on the critically eroded shoreline south of the Flagler Beach pier, now that the current design is out of date. That will further delay for at least a year or more a project 20 years in the works. Meanwhile, the coast continues to erode, threatening or damaging A1A.
Flagler County Approves Latest ‘Band-Aid’ in $14 Million-Worth of Emergency Dune Repairs
The county will rebuild only six miles of Flagler County’s dune-less 18-mile shoreline. The millions of dollars will rebuild the same kind of narrow, emergency dunes that the county rebuilt in the aftermath of Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, in 2018–sands that, by last year, had entirely washed away. The county engineer says it’s still all just a “band aid” approach.
DOT Will Seek Public Input on More Permanent Protection for A1A, But Options Are Limited
After two months of closed-door sessions involving state, federal and local officials on how to more permanently secure State Road A1A in Flagler and Volusia counties from storm damage and rising seas, the Florida Department of Transportation will seek public input in two sessions later this month–one in Flagler Beach, one in Volusia County, and present a half dozen options or so.
Flagler County Gets $5 Million for Emergency Sand, But It’ll Rebuild Barely 2 Miles of Skinny Dunes
Flagler County government secured $5 million in state dollars for emergency sand to rebuild shoreline eviscerated by recent storms. The money will only allow for about 2 miles of thin, not very durable dune reconstruction, but an additional $5 million is expected in federal funds for thicker dunes, but on a much shorter stretch of shore.
In Stunning Revelation, Dune Hold-Out Had Filed for Bankruptcy–and Not Disclosed Parcels’ Value; County Now Has Leverage
Cynthia d’Angiolini, the only property owner holding out from signing an easement to allow a dune rebuilding project in Flagler Beach, had failed to disclose the value of the two parcels in question in a federal bankruptcy proceeding. That now gives the county great leverage to win her signature, since she now may have to pay creditors a five-figure sum, which she does not have, enabling the county to bail her out–and get her signature.
State Transportation Department to Flagler Beach: Simply Rebuilding A1A Again Won’t Do
John Tyler, the Florida Department of Transportation’s District 5 secretary, told a special meeting of the Flagler Beach City Commission this evening that simply rebuilding A1A until the next storm won’t achieve a different result: it’ll be demolished again. DOT is creating a task force to devise a more durable solution, with all options on the table, including sea walls and moving A1A.
Nicole’s Damage to A1A ‘Much Worse’ Than Matthew, Over Longer Stretch; Parts of Flagler Beach Flood
An assessment of Tropical Storm Nicole’s damage of the shoreline from the north end of the county to South 25th Street in Flagler Beach left county officials disheartened at the flooding and the recurring destruction of State Road A1A, which is severe in many places and may require the road to be closed for weeks or months at least in one direction.
DOT Dumping Sand at South End of Flagler to Protect A1A, But Heart of Flagler Beach Is Defenseless
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.
