DESTIN, Fla. — A collaborative project in Okaloosa County will help a beach that suffered from erosion caused by Hurricane Sally in 2020.
A nearly $10 million beach restoration project will begin in west Destin on March 23.
“In 2020, when we lost all of this beach back when Sally hit,” said Teresa Hebert, Destin city councilwoman and mayor pro tempore. “It has taken about this long for FEMA to help us get everything together and the county to work with us. So it’s really just going to be for generations, it’ll be our kids that get to enjoy it.”
Over 150,000 cubic yards of sand will be dredged.
The project stretches from the jetty to the east side of South Bay by the Gulf Condos.
“People will start seeing equipment going out there by the end of March,” said Nick Tomecek, Okaloosa County PIO. “Then they’ll start the actual dredging. And then they’ll start the actual pumping and renourishing of the beach in April.”
The project is 90% funded by FEMA, with 10% coming through beach restoration reserves.
“One of the qualifications for FEMA is to protect property,” Tomecek said. “So that’s the major function of this project is to protect those structures, those condos, those homes from future storms and future erosion. But it’s also going to benefit the beachgoers that are going on to enjoy the sand and emerald green waters.”
Officials with the City of Destin says they’re grateful to collaborate with the commission on these efforts and to work with FEMA.
“It is nice to see it come to fruition, especially right now, right as spring break is hitting, right before we have our summer build up of folks that come in,” Hebert said. “We do have the luck of having such a beautiful area. We are the little piece of paradise everybody wishes they could have.”
The project is expected to wrap up in its entirety by the end of April.
The beach in west Destin will remain open and accessible to the public during the project, with temporary closures where the sand is actively being placed.