Caitlin Bechtel tells her story of staying on Fort Myers Beach for Hurricane Ian
Caitlin Bechtel tells her story of staying on Fort Myers Beach for Hurricane Ian
Andrea Melendez, Fort Myers News-Press
Environmental groups are concerned that a planned emergency berm on Fort Myers Beach will eventually cause sand to end up blanketing a designated Critical Wildlife Area near the south end of the island.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach voted this week to move the issue to May as the Town doesn’t yet have funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
But moving it to May will coincide with sea turtle nesting season.
“That’s a dynamic we didn’t want to have to deal with, but we will now,” interim Town Manager Keith Wilkins said Monday.
The berm is needed, town officials say, to protect property on the island in the wake of Hurricane Ian, which smashed into the Southwest Florida coast on Sept. 28. It would be designed to be 6 to 6.5 feet above sea level.
Storm surge on the island was around 15 feet, and many of the buildings on the island were swept away by the raging seas.
Many of the buildings that remain are vulnerable to more tropical storm or hurricane damage during the coming storm season as those structures still haven’t been repaired or rebuilt.
The town’s plans show a berm wrapping around the Gulf side of the island and stopping at the designated CWA, which is in place to protect listed birds and their nesting grounds.
The berm will cost nearly $8 million, with $7 million coming from FEMA and another $900,000 from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, or FDEP.
Julie Wraithmell, director of Audubon Florida, said her group is concerned that some of that sand will wash into the wildlife habitat, much of which is lower in height than the rest of the beach.
“It’s unnatural and not great for wildlife and I’m very worried because I think it gives folks a false sense of security in a location that’s inherently dynamic,” Wraithmell said. “The species that use it are adapted to survive and thrive in the destruction and turmoil, and the habitat resets after you see a storm like that.”
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Wraithmell said since the berm is going through an emergency approval process that, she’s worried that wildlife won’t receive the typical protections and considerations.
Jennifer Dexter, communications coordinator for Town of Fort Myers Beach, said bird and turtle nests will be monitored during the project.
“A preconstruction meeting was held last week that included representatives from (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC) and FDEP to ensure that all precautions are being taken to minimize the environmental impacts of this project on all species, particularly shorebirds and sea turtles,” Dexter wrote in an email.
Wraithmell said Southwest Florida and the state as a whole should reconsider how and whether to rebuild in areas that are vulnerable to devastation from natural events like hurricanes.
“It’s millions of dollars from taxpayer money from FEMA, and the state tax dollars are coming from everybody,” Wraithmell said of the emergency berm.
Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Facebook.
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