Singer Island Sands Replaced After Tropical Storm Noel
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Tropical storm Noel caused significant damage along Florida’s south-eastern coast in November 2007, removing thousands of tons of sand, undermining many expensive beach-side properties and threatening the exclusive resort’s tourism income.
After devastating The Dominican Republic and Haiti, claiming 143 lives and causing untold damage throughout the island, tropical storm Noel moved onto Florida and worked its way up the east coast. Although it claimed no lives in the State, the storm caused significant coastal erosion, most notable at Riviera Beach in exclusive Singer Island, a suburb of West Palm Beach, and the nearby beaches of Jupiter and South Palm.
Many exclusive buildings including condominiums, hotels and other real estate were affected as sand around them was simply washed away by the storm. The Weather Channel carried graphic live footage of the erosion in action; great chunks of the beach simply disappeared in seconds as Noel tore its way North. It was gripping TV as viewers across the US were able to witness at first hand the sheer power of the tropical storm.
After quickly taking stock of the damage local State and local politicians realised that they needed to take immediate and positive action to restore the affected beaches to their former glory or risk losing millions in tourism revenues. Less than a month after the storm heavy machinery was on the beach meticulously replacing the sand washed away by Noel. The total cost of the repairs for Singer Island Beach, Jupiter Beach and South Palm Beach will amount to $ 3 million.
Although that may seem an expensive short-term solution Governor Charlie Crist estimates that each dollar spent replacing the sand will generate eight more in tourism revenues for the area. He has said that the State will foot the bill and also initiate a long-term plan to build a beach protection scheme, such as off-coast jetties or some form of barrier system.
“I’m not a scientist,” said Grist, “but it looks like jetties provide a longer term solution. So in future every time we get a little wind we won’t be dealing with this sort of thing.” The work on that long-term solution has already started at Jupiter Beach and is expected to take one month. When that is complete the machinery will be moved to Singer Island and then onward to South Palm Beach where the construction work will be repeated.
