Hurricane Debby causes beach erosion in Pinellas County

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Pinellas County is no stranger to beach erosion. Now, local leaders are saying Hurricane Debby also took a toll on our Gulf Coast shoreline.

Since the hurricane, officials in Indian Rocks Beach said they have lost between 4 and 6 feet of dunes along a stretch of sand.

Overall, Debby caused erosion along the beaches in the county, but Dr. John Bishop, Coastal Management Coordinator, said the dunes survived.

“The beach became deflated, so we lost some elevation on the beach and our initial estimates are that that could be as much [or] more than 300,000 cubic yards of sand,” he said.

He said they lost more sand during Hurricane Idalia, but the dunes helped protect against “dead” surges.

“It helped to where it did erode, that sand ends up back on the beach,” Dr. Bishop said. “So, it helps to heal the beach a little bit.”

Before a hurricane, he said they take photos and collect data with a GPS to help estimate the total loss of sand after a storm hits.

He said almost all their beaches took some damage.

“Rocks beach, definitely, Belleair beach, Clearwater,” Dr. Bishop said. “It was pretty uniform, the erosion across the beaches.”

Jude Bond, with the city of Indian Rocks Beach, said heavy rain from Debby caused a lot of issues.

“A tremendous amount of rain, more rain than we’ve seen for as long as I can remember,” Bond said. “Waves coming up all the way past the shoreline to the dunes.”

Bond said their dunes are even more exposed now.

“Every time it gets hit; it’s weaker and as you can see, more exposed. When it’s fully undamaged, of course, it’s covered in Sea Oats all the way down, and the sea oats keep it from further eroding in case of minor storms.”

People need to stay off the dunes so they can recover and regrow, but the dunes are not the only thing Bond said Hurricane Debby impacted.

“Debby came through and pretty much wiped out all the remaining turtle nests along the beach,” he added. “So, for this season I don’t anticipate we will have any more hatchings.”

The county said they are conducting surveys to pinpoint a more exact volume of sand lost during the storm.

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