Florida
Florida beachfront property owners desperate for help in protecting property damaged by Hurricane Nicole
lorida beachfront property house owners determined for assist after Nicole
After dropping houses and chunks of their property, some Florida residents residing alongside the seashore in Wilbur-by-the-Sea are hoping there’s a solution to shield what’s left.
WILBUR-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. – After dropping houses and chunks of their property, some Florida residents residing alongside the seashore in Wilbur-by-the-Sea are hoping there’s a solution to shield what’s left.
“We spent our life constructing what we’ve constructed as a way to have this place. I wish to maintain it. I wish to maintain it, all my reminiscences are right here,”
Dan Epperson misplaced the dunes defending his beachfront dwelling and the deck connecting his property to the seashore, however he’s one of many fortunate ones in Wilbur-by-the-Sea. His home remains to be standing.
“Ken who misplaced his home had a contractor who put in a brief sea wall with all finest makes an attempt following the letter of the legislation, and it wasn’t ample, so that you noticed what occurred,” Epperson defined.
He shared footage with FOX 35 Information of the ocean grapes that used to assist maintain the dunes behind his dwelling in place. “Hurricane Ian took out the vegetation that was defending his home and washed out the tip of the neighbor’s sea wall, then Nicole got here alongside and utterly scarfed all the pieces underway beneath that,” Epperson stated.
He stated he and his neighbors have been asking for permission to erect a seawall behind their houses however the Florida Division of Environmental Safety (DEP) retains rejecting his plans. “And, so it’s been difficult, irritating,” Epperson stated.
He simply desires a repair earlier than he’s received nothing left to guard. “Whether or not it’s rocks or vegetation or armory or whether or not it’s a sea wall, I don’t actually know or care as a lot as I do as what’s applicable for the state of affairs. I do know {that a} seawall is difficult on the ocean life, however I additionally know that the vegetation was clearly ineffective. So, is there one thing in between? I do not know. That’s what I hope individuals in energy inform us,” Epperson stated.
Final yr, a state senator and a state consultant from Volusia County sponsored payments to make it simpler for beachside residents to construct and restore sea partitions. That laws did not make it previous the Setting, Agriculture, and Flooding subcommittee.