State of the beaches after Arlene

[Kurt]

Re: State of the beaches

Just added some more photos from Seagrove Beach, Camp Creek, Seacrest Beach, Rosemary Beach:

http://www.sowal.com/photos-061205.html

It is a beautiful and warm day with lots of folks out playing and sunning on the beaches. Seagrove to Rosemary looked pretty good compared to Seaside. Some minor damage to walkovers and very little debris.

The sand level is way down and a good bit was lost that had been "scraped" and pushed up against the dunes. Mainly in areas where the beach was more narrow.

The sea oats that were planted in new sand at WaterColor, Seaside, Rosemary all are safe.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Re: State of the beaches

What a contrast between Grayton Beach and Seaside following Arlene. And when will people ever accept that nature takes its course and the best protection is natural restoration?

Thank goodness for the educated efforts of Grayton Beach State Park stewards. :clap_1:

Amen, Sister! Other than debris here and there, Grayton Beach looks great. The water in Western Lake has subsided back to normal levels. Sun is shining on Grayton. People should take notes on the effects of letting mother nature do her own thing.

The clay beaches at Seaside remind me of the Oregon coast, except that Seaside has sunshine.

 

[jtnkelly]

Kurt,

We are headed to Palms of Seagrove next Saturday. You posted a picture from "behind" Palms of Seagrove. From the picture, it appears that the walkover in the foreground does not reach the beach. Is this the Palms' walkover?

 

[Cork On the Ocean]

Seaside does look sad. Quite a bit of rocks exposed on Seacrest Beach but nothing like Seaside. Photos of Seacrest Beach, Rosemary and Inlet Beach just uploaded at:

http://www.uniquepanhandleproperties.com/arlene.htm

 

[Bob]

JB, I left the night before the storm, and the beach already appeared about half as wide as last summer. Water was lapping at some walkovers at high tide. I can only think the situation is not good at Blue Mountain Beach.

 

[phdphay]

Refresh my memory. Whose decision was it to scrape the beaches? Which beaches were scraped? Who paid for it?

 

[Kurt]

TDC (taxes) took care of it with permits from FL DEP.

TDC says that 15 accesses are closed for repair, but that 4 of those are at the Miramar access which has been closed for some time.

The worst ones are the 3 at Seacrest which are totally gone.

I should get a list soon of closures and alternates.

Sea Oat planting as of now is still scheduled to begin in July.

No word on any sand being brought in or future scraping.

 

[Paula]

I wonder if it's just chance that some accesses held up while others didn't. I'm sure in part it is. Are there better and worse building techniques and materials that we can learn from. Fortunately, our access held up (we're on Seacrest beach but not the resort area) and it was rebuilt in November after Ivan (which is probably the case for the Seacrest resort as well).

 

[JB]

TDC (taxes) took care of it with permits from FL DEP.

TDC says that 15 accesses are closed for repair, but that 4 of those are at the Miramar access which has been closed for some time.

The worst ones are the 3 at Seacrest which are totally gone.

I should get a list soon of closures and alternates.

Sea Oat planting as of now is still scheduled to begin in July.

No word on any sand being brought in or future scraping.

If they do ANY more scraping, I'm afraid the next storm will do irreparable damage. I thought it was a mistake from the beginning and if the beaches at Seaside are any indication, it was indeed a mistake.

 

[Kurt]

I wonder if it's just chance that some accesses held up while others didn't. I'm sure in part it is. Are there better and worse building techniques and materials that we can learn from. Fortunately, our access held up (we're on Seacrest beach but not the resort area) and it was rebuilt in November after Ivan (which is probably the case for the Seacrest resort as well).

The county accesses are pretty heavy duty. A solid foundation with deep pilings comes first. A lot of lower portions were lost because they were rebuilt lower than pre-Ivan out of necessity.