beach closed?

[BeachSiO2]

What about the daily liability with wet feet on any day the access is open. Liability, I think not. Close access any time it rains? Not!

Here is my last post on this so I hope it helps. In lawsuits regarding public entities, there is protection provided to the public defendant in these types of cases as long as the defendant has taken what are called reasonable and prudent measures to maintain a facility in a manner to limit risks to users. Daily use of a beach access is one thing and the TDC maintains log books of inspections and maintenance that has been performed. Additionally, when the public reports something that is wrong, it is noted and fixed. Is there a possibility that someone could slip and fall in a typical rainstorm and the County be sued. Sure, but that is a risk that is assumed and necessary to be able to provide the public access to the beach, and the likelihood is much smaller.

Now, let's look at the other extreme and what the situation was when it was determined that the accesses should close..

The county knows that a tropical storm is coming. It has produced over 2 1/2 feet of rain in at least one area. The winds in Sowal are anticipated to be at least 30mph with gusts exceeding 40. There is a possibility that on the backside of the storm, sustained winds will be more than 40. Sowal was supposed to be in the eye and it was to be a direct hit. In past storms, there have been rapid intensifications in other areas that must be considered since Fay had been trending offshore. In the past four years, two hurricanes that made landfall in Pensacola and Alabama led to the complete loss of more than 40 walkovers in Sowal. The effects of those storms were in close agreement with tropical storm forces as there landfall was so far away.

History has shown that in this case with TS Isidore, someone was injured and the county was sued. The downside is that the accesses would be closed for a day or so, depending on the storms impact.

Would it be reasonable and prudent to leave the accesses open with all this information? No, I could win this lawsuit and I'm not a lawyer.

 

[BeachSiO2]

40mph winds aren't expected with each rain. It was mentioned earlier, the combination of strong wind and rain were the issue, not only rain. My guess is that it would be nearly impossible to ask that TDC employees try to stand guard at each public access and wait for wind to hit a certain speed, so that each access could be quickly closed off, hence the early call on that decision. I just go to Grayton Beach, and am amble to avoid all of that red, I mean yellow, tape, though I bet it is more difficult to step through with a surfboard.

Plus it could be stronger, the bridges close, and there are 50+ walkovers and 10 employees. Plus they have to remove over 425 trash bags so junk doesn't get spread all over the beach (thanks for noticing SJ). Not to mention (and here is a shout out to Florida Girl), only two of them live in sowal so if the winds increased they would be stuck.