DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. – The Daytona Beach Shores City Council rehashed all the complications stemming from Hurricane Nicole during its Tuesday meeting.
The council said they still don’t know what solutions could prevent issues like this in the future.
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As Nicole approached Central Florida, Daytona Beach Shores City Manager Kurt Swartzlander said officials had to make some quick calls.
“Our concern was the life, safety and health of our citizens,” Swartzlander said.
He said 26 properties here were deemed unsafe.
Hundreds of people were evacuated as several buildings were at high risk of collapsing. Multiple buildings partially collapsed by the time the storm passed.
Hurricane Ian stripped away the sand dunes and sea walls, leaving buildings more vulnerable. After Nicole, they were in even worse shape.
Now, residents like Pat Murphy are pressing city officials to find solutions before another storm rolls in.
“I realized we just experienced a disaster last Thursday. We need to jump on recovery in a quick manner,” Murphy said.
Murphy suggested city officials build 6.5 miles of a uniform sea wall to protect properties off the shore.
“I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and dig in. Let’s build a wall and make life better here,” Murphy said.
Ed Offerman, another resident, mentioned a temporary solution. He said officials should secure impacted areas with lots of sand.
Offerman also encouraged the council to continue engaging with state legislators.
“Put pressure on the governor and the Department of Environmental Protection,” Offerman said.
The council said they will continue to discuss both long and short-term solutions with county, state and federal officials, but for now, they don’t have concrete answers.
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