Heavy equipment is on the beach this week in Brevard County trying to shore up more than a dozen homes in danger of collapsing onto the sand post-Hurricane Matthew.

  • 13 properties along Brevard County coast suffering from severe erosion
  • Matthew wore away tons of sand
  • County using hotel tax to replenish beach properties
  • COMPLETE COVERAGE: Hurricane Matthew

The hurricane's strong winds churned up the ocean and wore away tons of sand, putting the beachfront houses at serious risk. But efforts are underway to help.

"Our back porch is hanging off," Lisa Backer said.

Backer's father just bought this oceanfront home this past summer.

She's visiting from Texas for the first time, but during her stay another guest named Hurricane Matthew came calling.

Now their property is teetering on the edge of the ocean.

"We lost 10 feet of our backyard," Backer said.

This is one of 13 properties Brevard County is trying to protect after severe beach erosion caused by the storm three weeks ago.

This week a contractor is bringing in tons of sand to shore things up.

Officials are using the 3 percent hotel/motel tax to pay for it -- a fund that typically is spread throughout the year for beach renourishment projects.

For Lisa, just this little bit of new sand butted up against the property gives her some peace of mind.

"They did it quick, professionally, they got it done, they were in and out," she said.

Overall the county estimates nearly $25 million in beach erosion, with the south beaches being the hardest hit.

The sand project continues all this week.