ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) -
Pinellas County now knows that Tropical
Storm Debby removed 630,900 cubic yards of sand from several miles of local
beaches.
It also knows the offshore sand bar, which is 150 to 300
feet off the shoreline, picked up 657,700 cubic yards of sand.
Both measurements come from Dr. Ping Wang, a USF geology
professor under contract to continuously monitor and measure Pinellas beaches
for this specific reason: the county
always knows what it had before a storm, so it can apply for federal disaster
assistance after a storm.
"We've been studying the county beach for about 11 years,"
Dr. Wang said Wednesday. "Tropical Storm Debby would be the storm that caused
the most widespread erosion along our beach."
He said some of the sand now sitting offshore might come
back in, but "...the recovery through natural processes will take much longer
and it's quite unpredictable."
The sure bet: renourishment.
The Army Corps of Engineers is considering giving Pinellas $25 million
for emergency beach repairs. The county's
coastal manager said replacement sand could come from a shoal near Egmont
Key.
"A large quantity of sand's there, it's known to be a very
good quality beach sand, we've used it in the past," Andy Squires said. "There's
no existing permit, but we think we could expedite a permit from DEP since that's
a familiar area."
In the meantime, the expanded offshore sand bar offers some
protection during the current hurricane season.
"That makes the bar wider and higher so the top of the bar
becomes shallower," Dr. Wand explained. "When the water becomes shallower, the
wave breaks over the bar. When the wave breaks over the bar, it kills
the energy that arrives at the shoreline."
That decreases the risk to developments on the beaches.
To read the report, follow this link:
http://www.pinellascounty.org/environment/coastalMngmt/pdfs/Beaches-Tropical-Storm-Debby-Impacts-7-24-12.pdf
