The cost, stakes and logistics of repairing damage to SWFL beaches

Less than a year after governments in Lee and Collier counties spent millions on restoring their beaches from the effects of erosion, they’re going to have to do it again. Hurricane Ian devastated the Southwest Florida coastline on Sept. 28. Like a child trashing a sand castle, the hurricane laid waste to ongoing beach restoration efforts. That means thousands of truckloads of sand will be hauled to the coast and poured up and down beachfronts throughout the rest of this year and beyond.

A secondary project, renourishing Estero Island’s beaches, was ordered before Hurricane Ian’s impact and is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of this year at an estimated cost of $23 million. On Fort Myers Beach, though, the first order of business will be building an emergency berm, elevating the north-south island’s beach by about six feet.

To read more at Gulfshore Business, click here.