Flagler officials face difficult decisions following Hurricane Ian destruction
Posted on: October 17th, 2022
Original Article: https://www.wesh.com/article/flagler-hurricane-ian-destruction/41653136#
FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. —Flagler Beach leaders will have a big decision to make in the next few weeks: Whether to try and reopen the pier in the short term or leave it closed since it's scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a concrete structure next year.
"Ian really ate into our extra protection, and now we're very exposed and very vulnerable," city manager William Whitson said.
Chopper 2 flew over the badly battered Flagler County coast, where there is very little dune separating the ocean from A1A. Ian also ripped off another portion of the near 100-year-old fishing pier, about 450 feet is all that remains.
City leaders would like to see the pier quickly reopen, but are the repairs worth the time and money for the nine months or so before it's set to be torn down?
"The engineers are going to finish their assessment, take into account the dive team report, then we make a determination about how much of the pier is safe for the public to be on," Whitson said.
The cost to make the pier safe is still unknown, but that's why locals were pleased Gov. Ron DeSantis made a stop in the county over the weekend to see first-hand what has been lost, perhaps cut through permitting red tape. DeSantis' next moves may make funding available to shore up the pier, even temporarily, and rescue the county's 18 miles of fragile dune.
"We had the right people here, and we're all going to work together--the county, the state and the federal government, and we're just going to get it done," Whitson said.
The city is already working to restore beach walkovers. A total of 28 of 52 are closed due to Ian.
The city is hosting a Hurricane Ian informational forum for all residents Oct. 26. The next day, leaders will decide if they can reopen the pier in some capacity and how best to do it.