South Florida beaches deemed “critically eroded”

MIAMI – South Florida’s stunning beaches are what we love about residing right here and it attracts tens of thousands and thousands of holiday makers annually. 

But up and down the state, like in Flagler Beach and in coastal areas across the nation, our beaches are affected by erosion.

“The southern section of our beach is deemed ‘critically eroded’ by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection,” stated Patrick Bardes. 

He is the Coastal and Waterway Coordinator for the City of Deerfield Beach. 

He defined that the southern part of the seaside alone loses 14,000 cubic yards of sand annually. 

That’s sufficient sand to refill simply over 4 Olympic dimension swimming pools. 

A primary instance of disappearing sand is the piles of huge boulders we see protruding out of the bottom alongside the shore at Deerfield Beach. 

“These rock groins that were constructed in the 60s and 70s were buried in our last beach re-nourishment project and as you can see due to erosion they have become uncovered and we plan to bury them again in the winter,” Bardes stated.  

Another indication of abrasion is seeing giant chunks of sand alongside the shoreline gone, leaving a big step to get from the water to the seaside. 

“As soon as we came in we noticed that there was some erosion,” defined Alma Abdel-Moty, who was having fun with a day on the seaside. 

Professor Samual Brody is from Texas A&M University. 

“I like to point out that there is not one variable that’s causing the erosion problem,” stated Brody. 

He has analysis displaying local weather change is one issue, however so is growth so near the water.  

He additionally factors to building on barrier islands that disrupt the sturdy sand wanted to guard the mainland. 

“The synergy between the two is what worries me over the next couple of decades,” he stated.

Back in Deerfield Beach, the town has plans to construct up components of the seaside once more. 

“We plan to boost the elevation of the seaside 6 – 8 ft and prolong it 70 ft throughout our subsequent nourishment undertaking. 

Coastal communities throughout South Florida have seaside renourishment packages. 

Here in Deerfield Beach, they do it each 5 years.  

The subsequent one is ready to start in January and final till March. 

The value of that’s as much as $3 million.