An emergency effort is underway to restore beaches in Pinellas County hit hard by Hurricane Idalia.
Madeira Beach City Manager Robin Gomez said, “Most of our economy relies on visitors, guests whether you’re here for a day, overnight, week, two weeks, a month or two months.”Do Florida Christmas trees have bugs in them?
Tourism is helping replenish the Pinellas County beaches through the tourist development tax. That’s a 6 percent tax on accommodations like hotels and private homes rented for six months or less.
After Hurricane Idalia battered Florida’s west coast with several feet of storm surge, the county decided to put that money to use.
“The county decided to step in and do this emergency dune project to be able to add some protection as a sort of stop-gap measure until we’re able to get the nourishment in place,” Pinellas County Coastal Management Coordinator John Bishop explained.
So, for the next storm surge, the homes and businesses behind the beaches will be better protected.
“The dunes are designed to create sort of a buffer against that, so the water has to rise even higher before it can get over it,” Bishop explained.
So far, 240,000 tons of sand have been put on Pinellas County beaches, with another 100,000 tons still to come.Gabby Petito lawsuit: Brian Laundrie’s parents finally admit what their son told them, attorney says
The county has already constructed dunes on Sunset Beach and Pass-a-Grille Beach. The dunes at Belleair Beach and Indian Rocks Beach are also near completion.
Work at the Madeira Beach segment began this week and is expected to be finished by the end of this month. This emergency beach restoration project is only the first part of an even bigger initiative.
“Phase 2, we’re also working to design a beach nourishment project in case we can’t work it out with the army corps, we can go on our own and restore the beach ourselves,” Bishop explained.
Source : Wfla
