- April 25, 2024
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The shores of Longboat Key fared much like the rest of the town during Hurricane Ian, town officials said.
In other words, really well.
Minimal erosion and shifts in the beach contours were noted. So few, in fact, a claim for beach assessment and nourishment is unnecessary, unlike in previous brushes with tropical systems that took tons of sand and took millions of dollars to replace..
The town’s beaches are one of the biggest draws for residents and visitors alike.
One family has been making an annual trip down the barrier island for over 40 years for a family reunion. The sand and surf of Longboat Key are among the favorite parts of their trip.
“I just love the feel of the sand here,” Annie Glennon said. “It feels just like powder.”
Sarah Cirone and Kathleen Eidson, who were accompanying Glennon on her beach walk Monday morning, touted the cleanliness of the beach and the level of privacy the town’s beaches promise as one of the least busy in the area.
“I appreciate how not crowded the beaches here are,” Eidson said. “They aren’t overly commercialized like other area beaches.”
Eidson lived in the Tampa area for about 18 years before moving northeast where Cirone and Glennon also live. She has many fond memories of Florida’s beaches on the west coast.
Public Works Department Programs Manager Charlie Mopps is known for his knowledge of beaches, specifically those on the barrier island.
As has been a sentiment among everyone in the town, the beaches were also lucky in comparison with what was originally forecast for the area.
“Our beaches actually fared very well,” he said. “There was little to no impact.”
According to the town’s coastal engineer and tide gauges, the sea level during the storm was actually two to five feet below normal. By contrast, points south of Ian's landfall experienced catastrophic increases in sea level to 15 feet or more.
“It seemed like Hurricane Ian was basically taking the water from the north and pulling it to the south,” he said.
Following the storm, Mopps met with the Army Corps of Engineers and the city of Sarasota who were inspecting their beaches to observe their practices. When inspecting, if impact to the beaches is noted then a “call for surveys” or post-storm damage assessment is made.
Regardless of a storm, the 10 miles of beaches on Longboat Key are surveyed annually as part of the town’s beach management program that informs future renourishment efforts, such as the one completed recently.
“That happened only like weeks prior to the hurricane coming,” Mopps said. “So what we had was really fresh, up to date data of pre-storm conditions.”
The town is only required to complete physical monitoring for three years following any sand replacement to meet permit requirements, but the town has opted to do it annually instead.
“We always do annual assessments because we do a lot of beach nourishment,” he said. “The monitoring aspect of it is to make sure you know where your hotspots are, so you can come up with plans to treat the hotspots and keep the beaches usable not only for recreation, but also for storm surge protection, habitat for shorebirds and nesting turtles.”
In the most recent round of renourishment, completed in 2021, the town placed 1 million cubic yards of sand in about a year's time, a $36 million project that affected miles of beach along the Key.
When determining how the beaches fared following Hurricane Ian, Mopps and the department analyzed aerial photography provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and National Geodetic Survey.
“We compared the pre-storm and post-storm data,” he said. “We looked at the tide gauges; we looked at all these things, and we know that the sand that was in our system is still in our system, so there is no need to file for a claim.”
Although a post-storm assessment was not necessary this time around, an eye is still kept on Longboat Key beaches even following a tropical storm.
“Even the tropical storms that we had over the last year, we’ve seen more impact than we did through (Hurricane Ian),” Mopps said.
When making an assessment determination, one must first look at the beach’s pre-established profile. The profile is a “slice” of the beach that is then looked at sideways. The extent of the profile is measured from the berm, which is the dry, sandy beach, to the point of survey closure in the water. In Longboat Key’s case, that point spans to about 13 feet deep into the Gulf of Mexico.
“That is considered the system for all 10 miles of beach,” he said. “The pre-storm profiles compared to the post-storm profiles allow us to quantify a change within the system.”
If a sustainable difference is marked, the department is able to seek reimbursement for costs associated with replacing sand that might have been lost. However, in order to qualify for such aid, the town must prove that at least 50% of costs claimed to FEMA are on land, which include structural damages, before any money will be awarded for sand replacement.
In 2019, the town received more than $6 million in connection with the loss of about 17,000 cubic yards of sand from 17,000 cubic yards was reported lost in 2016's Tropical Storm Debby. Another $300,000 accounted for sand lost to Hurricane Hermine, also in 2016. FEMA denied claims made after 2017's Hurricane Irma, saying that while some segments of beach lost sand, others gained sand.
Unlike beaches in Sarasota, Longboat Key beaches are not surveyed by the Army Corps of Engineers, but instead all inspection and surveying is done by town staff.
Mopps noted the majority of damage seen on and off the barrier island’s beaches was from wind.
However, some of the beach sand dunes may have increased elevation and some of the dry, sandy beaches may have slightly deflated.
Following measurements of the survey area, he was able to determine that the majority of sand from the Key’s beaches remained within its system.
