Debby is a wash for Beer Can Island

Town Manager David Bullock proposed a new name for the recently enlarged beach at Greer Island, often referred to as Beer Can Island:

“You might call it ‘the town of Longboat Key taxpayer contribution to Beer Can Island,’” he told the Longboat Key Town Commission at its Monday, July 2 meeting.

The expanded beach is yet another part of Tropical Storm Debby’s aftermath.

Last summer, the town spent $4.5 million to place 133,000 cubic yards of sand along the severely eroded north-end beach.

Preliminary estimates suggest that the area lost 150,000 cubic yards of sand during Debby’s stay, with much of the sand drifting north to Beer Can Island.

The expansion of dry sand during low tide brings the edge of the island next to an area with strong currents, according to Bullock.

“If anyone ventures off of the beach that is expecting to have a nice, calm walk ... they’re likely to find themselves in 20 feet of water, likely headed to Mexico,” he said.

The sand shift prompted Longboat Key Acting Police Chief Pete Cumming and Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dezzi to email Manatee County officials to request warning signage in the area. County officials placed signs in the area Tuesday, July 3.

Cumming and Dezzi also wrote that they would increase the town’s warning signage in the area.
The sand that accreted on Beer Can Island will likely continue to make its way east and end up underneath Longboat Pass Bridge, Bullock said.

The north-end beach experiences extreme fluctuations in sand because of erosion accretion cycles caused by the interaction between the ebb shoal and beach, which causes sand to drift into Longboat Pass.

The emergency sand was only intended to last one year, until the town could undertake a more permanent course of action.

The town is currently in the process of obtaining permits for three north-end groins that would offer a long-term solution, according to the Longboat Pass Management Plan. The permitting process typically takes about a year, meaning that late spring of 2013 would be the earliest starting point for construction.

The north-end beach did get one piece of good news:

Debby’s wrath may have swept away sand, but it was no match for a seawall the town put in place at the end of last year to protect North Shore Road. Although overwash occurred during the storm, it caused no damage to the road.

Debby’s Digits
• 4 million gallons per day — The average amount of wastewater Longboat Key sent to Manatee County per day during the three-day period, compared to its average of 1.9 million gallons per day.
• 150,000 cubic yards — The preliminary estimate of sand loss attributed to the storm event.
• 77 — The number of calls for assistance the Longboat Key Police Department received during the two most active days of Debby, most of which involved alarms. Police average 14 calls for assistance on a typical day.
• 51 — The number of streets on the Key that had moderate to severe flooding.
• 10 inches — The approximate amount of rain Longboat Key received over three days.
*Source: town of Longboat Key