- October 14, 2024
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The Hammock Dunes home owner's association just spent $700,000 to replace their dunes, only to lose them again in Hurricane Ian.
But, Greg Davis, president of Hammock Dunes Owners Association, said the problem is not that they lost the dunes, but that they can't get any financial help to maintain them without a county beach management program.
"We are glad we had the engineering study done and were able to mitigate damages," Davis said. "The dunes worked as designed."
Meaning, of course, that sand dunes are meant to absorb impact from storms, and because the new dunes were in place before Hurricane Ian hit, Davis said property damages were minimized. After the impact to Fort Myers Beach, Davis said they are "painfully aware" of what the damage could be.
"The dunes are a huge asset of Hammock Dunes," Davis said. "We have the responsibility to [maintain them]."
However the HDOA paid out of their own reserves to fix 1,350 feet of their 12,150 feet of dunes the engineering study said needed repair, and will now need to turn around and do so again, after less than a year. And they can't count on aid from state or federal government grants, Davis said, without a beach management program since HDOA is a nonprofit corporation that owns private dunes.
"Flagler County is one of maybe two shorefront communities without a beach management plan," Davis said.
Davis said the HDOA is supportive of the county's work towards a beach management plan, including taking administrative control of the dunes.
Correction: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect the footage of fixed in the maintenance project, as well as the amount of beach front owned by the HDOA.
