INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Last week’s storm sapped away at the county beaches, but did not cause major damage, county officials said. Anytime there’s a storm, sand gets washed out and redeposited at the beaches.

And while experts say the erosion is a natural occurrence, from the boardwalks at Wabasso Beach to the shoreline, more sand has been stripped, leaving gaping dunes and questions about the environmental impact.

“Minor to moderate dune erosion and beach berm lowering were observed at a few locations in the county, while other areas didn’t appear to sustain any sand losses,” said Eric Charest, Interim Natural Resources Director, in an email. “This is pretty common along our coastline, and that is why we have it broken down into management sectors, due to the changing conditions seen based on wind and wave direction along the coast.”

Though it appears a lot of sand was washed away, representatives said this event did not call for emergency measures. High waves and gusty winds move the sand along the coastline, leading to erosion, officials said.

“The sand often washes back onto the beach, but usually to a different location,” said Kathy Copeland, legislative affairs and communications manager for the county.

Some areas with severe impact had a 4-to-5 foot retreat of the dunes. There was also an overall lowering of 1-to-2 feet of the beaches along the coast, county officials said.

Copeland said the Sector 3 Hurricanes Ian and Nicole Dune Restoration Project was paused last week for the storm and restarted on Tuesday. The $13 million project began Nov. 27 at Treasure Shores Beach Park, north of Wabasso Beach, and will extend 6.6 miles south to the Turtle Trail Beach Access.

The undertaking will address the 2022 hurricane-related impacts to the county shoreline.

Crews will add 275,000 cubic yards of beach sand to rebuild the dunes. Crews will also install more than 720,000 native, salt-tolerant dune plants that will help the dunes endure heavy winds and pounding surf, county officials said.

Treasure Shores Beach Park, which closed on Nov. 27 for dune restoration, will remain shut down throughout Christmas. County officials are anticipating closing Golden Sands Beach Park after the holidays, Copeland said.

The weekend storms had little impact on sea turtle nests, county officials said. Sea turtle nesting season runs from March 1 through October 31.

“Majority of the nests had already hatched, our best estimate would be that less than 25 nests may have been impacted from this recent bad weather event,” said Quintin Bergman, coastal resource manager for the county. “The bulk nesting activity occurs over the summer months with most of the sea turtle nests having already hatched out by November. Bad weather occurring in December has little to no impact on the overall nesting season, other than shifting sand within the beach and dune which turtles rely on for nesting.”

Photos by Nick Samuel