The coastline erosion following Hurricane Irma left Brevard County beaches severely damaged.

But thanks to money approved by the Brevard County Commission, beach dunes will soon be restored.

  • Brevard County to restore beach dunes after hurricane damage
  • Project expected to be completed by May 1
  • Expected to cost around $8 million

Monday crews began dumping sand on to the beach where trucks would later take it down a 20 mile stretch of the beach restoring the dunes along the coastline. The project is using 230,000 cubic yards of sand.

"After the last storm there was no beach – none,” said Don Bourlier, who has weathered storms dating back to the early 2000s. “The place looked like a bomb went off. It was incredible, there was just stuff everywhere."

That stretch of beach line will be in Satellite Beach, Indian Harbor Beach and the Southern area of the county – the south beaches.

"The combined effect of both Hurricane Matthew and Irma was very significant to the coastline, so this project here is addressing erosion from both storms,” explained Mike McGarry with Brevard Co. Natural Resources.

The project is expected to be completed by May 1 ahead of sea turtle nesting season.

That's good news for residents who know the importance of preserving the coast.

"Our sea turtle population is just crazy out here and we are so lucky after the last storm. I usually see broken turtle eggs, but I didn't see any after this storm,” Bourlier said. “So that's another reason for doing this project, preserve the ecology and preserve the vegetation.”

This project is expected to cost around $8 million dollars when completed.

The money for the project is coming from a combination of County Money (around $1.5 million from the Tourist Development Tax) and from FEMA and the Florida Department of Emergency Management.