Beaches/Surge

Seawalls compliments of Redfish Marine. Allowed by the BCC. Along with the brown sand. Hope DEP makes them get removed!

Seawalls compliments of Redfish Marine. Allowed by the BCC. Along with the brown sand. Hope DEP makes them get removed!

;-) ...my sarcasm doesn't always translate.

Mine isn't sutle enough.

Mine isn't sutle enough.

too windy and sandy to get any shots. I am sure my camera is a bit damaged from just exposing it to the sand. Not much to report really, because my walk was rather short. Ever walked in a dessert with a wet, spongy floor? that is exactly what it felt like. I took a couple of short videos which I will try to post later, so that you can see the stregth of the east>west push. Any white sand around was/is blowing down the beach. I saw very little on any of the fake dunes. As BeachSteelers reported, several seawalls were never covered over by the sand to begin with, and I believe these are the ones which Bobby was refering to when he said the water was hitting the seawalls. I guess it had calmed by the time I arrived, because the water wasn't coming in quite that high. Plenty of trash flying around and plenty of shoes being burried in the sand. Saw a few piles of beach equipment under some walkovers, and anything that was left on the beach must be floating west to at least Oyster Lake outflow. Wind is really hard on the beach, not much different than some of the storms we had last year. The currents are strong, both red flags are flying high, yet I still saw swimmers out in the water up to their waist.

You gotta love a good wind storm like this at the beach...i opened all my windows and doors....:clap_1: ...plus we can use the rain!!

Tornado Watch now posted for the Panhandle and Southern AL. Look for supercell thunderstorms to develop this evening with the possibilities of very heavy rainfall, strong damaging winds continuing--even stronger in the storms, and tornadoes.

lost




buried




remaining




vacated


click [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRI_pN47Pbw"]YouTube - Mild Storm blowing in[/ame]to see a short video clip of the white sand being blown off the fake dunes protecting the seawall.

I took a walk down the beach in Seagrove, and my legs were sandblasted. It appeared to me that the dark sand covering the tubes was much finer than the actual beach sand. It is blowing up and away (like smoke), while the natural sand was blowing along the beach. I have to agree with BeachSteelers assessment, it's a brown mud pie right now down there.

I wonder what time high tide was today. Please note. I never said water was hitting the walls. It was at the foot of the the seawall area. Then it is a rapid drop off down to the water. Brad, you are corect Blue Mountain is in dire need of some sand! Had a funn day in the surf! Had to go to PC to run from the drift!

another [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jegH5RdmTA"]YouTube - Blue Mtn beach - storm has arrived[/ame] of the water today.

Yuck

So I'm new to this forum, to FL and to the coast in general (being from north AL I'm still not that fond of sand but getting used to it). I'm also writing a paper on coastal armoring ...esp. the seawalls in Walton Co.

Does anyone have anything good to say about them?

When I first started this project I was on the side of the property owner, but now the only thing good I have left to say about seawalls is that they might keep the property owner's house from falling into the Gulf...for a while.

Are most of these property owners just desperate or misinformed, do they think it's going to work for the long term or did they just sink thousands of dollars into a short term project knowing that the next storm could wash it away?

and I think you will get quite a few responses here. I have no comments. Good or Bad.

So I'm new to this forum, to FL and to the coast in general (being from north AL I'm still not that fond of sand but getting used to it). I'm also writing a paper on coastal armoring ...esp. the seawalls in Walton Co.

Does anyone have anything good to say about them?

When I first started this project I was on the side of the property owner, but now the only thing good I have left to say about seawalls is that they might keep the property owner's house from falling into the Gulf...for a while.

Are most of these property owners just desperate or misinformed, do they think it's going to work for the long term or did they just sink thousands of dollars into a short term project knowing that the next storm could wash it away?

So I'm new to this forum, to FL and to the coast in general (being from north AL I'm still not that fond of sand but getting used to it). I'm also writing a paper on coastal armoring ...esp. the seawalls in Walton Co.

Does anyone have anything good to say about them?

When I first started this project I was on the side of the property owner, but now the only thing good I have left to say about seawalls is that they might keep the property owner's house from falling into the Gulf...for a while.
Are most of these property owners just desperate or misinformed, do they think it's going to work for the long term or did they just sink thousands of dollars into a short term project knowing that the next storm could wash it away?

There you go. Check your personal messages.

I wonder what time high tide was today. Please note. I never said water was hitting the walls. It was at the foot of the the seawall area. Then it is a rapid drop off down to the water. Brad, you are corect Blue Mountain is in dire need of some sand! Had a funn day in the surf! Had to go to PC to run from the drift!

Bobby:

It is because I respect your observations and know you that I ask these direct questions. We have a unique opportunity to evaluate the impact of any structure on the beach with a different viewpoint than most other areas because we typically have storm-induced shoreline changes and not long-term erosion. This may seem like semantics to some but as a coastal scientist it is a living laboratory. So thanks for the clarification. If anyone sees direct impacts from wall to beach with or without initial sand placement- PLEASE let me know. Thanks in advance!!
bp

Bobby:

It is because I respect your observations and know you that I ask these direct questions. We have a unique opportunity to evaluate the impact of any structure on the beach with a different viewpoint than most other areas because we typically have storm-induced shoreline changes and not long-term erosion. This may seem like semantics to some but as a coastal scientist it is a living laboratory. So thanks for the clarification. If anyone sees direct impacts from wall to beach with or without initial sand placement- PLEASE let me know. Thanks in advance!!
bp

No wonder you are "Man of the Year," you are one of the few people left who actually care. Thank you.