Army Corps studying storm risk management in Collier County after Hurricane Ian

Author: Tim Aten, Gulfshore Business
Published: Updated:

Hurricane Ian has drawn powerful attention to an Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study of coastal storm risk management in Collier County that began after Hurricane Irma but was shelved before a final report was released.  

The historic storm surge last fall from Hurricane Ian changed the way coastal risks are viewed. “We are redoing all of our beach modeling and we’re reanalyzing what potential sand sources we’ll be able to use for that because of the impacts of Ian and how it has affected what’s available,” said Army Corps project manager Abby Preddy at a well-attended public meeting April 26 at South Regional Library in East Naples. “We’re also updating our data and our structures, which is what we use in our modeling to assess what gets damaged in these kinds of storms.”

The three-year study recently was reinitiated because Collier County’s low-lying topography elevates its risk of effects from sea level rise and coastal storms. The goal is to identify and recommend potential solutions to manage Gulf Coast storm risks from beach erosion, wave action and storm surge in order to reduce economic damage to existing development, infrastructure and natural resources in Collier. The local partnership effort is focused on reducing hurricane and storm damage along the beach areas off Vanderbilt, Park Shore, Naples and Marco Island.   

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