- April 24, 2024
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The Florida Department of Environmental Protection secretary has pledged hurricane recovery support to Flagler County.
Shawn Hamilton returned to Flagler County on Tuesday Nov. 15 to assess the damages to the county's shoreline, from the Flagler Beach pier to Washington Oaks Gardens State park in the north, according to a press release from Julie Murphy, public information officer for Flagler County. He was in Flagler County the week before as a part of Governor Ron DeSantis' team, touring the damage from Hurricane Nicole.
Hamilton toured Flagler's fragile dune system with County Administrator Heidi Petito, Deputy County Administrator Jorge Salinas, General Services Director Mike Dickson and County Engineer Faith Alkhatib.
“The response from Governor Ron DeSantis and his team – Division of Emergency Management, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Transportation including the District 5 secretary – has been absolutely amazing,” Petito said. “We truly appreciate all the time they have taken with us. FDOT (District 5) Secretary John Tyler addressed Flagler Beach last night, and Secretary Hamilton spent a couple of hours with us this morning. We are grateful.”
The county representatives showed Hamilton the flat sandy expanses that were once dunes and multiple areas where the ocean breached dunes, flooding homes and infrastructure – like the MalaCompra drainage system, the release said. Alkhatib said Hamilton is a down-to-earth man who will be great to work with.
“We talked about emergency sand, and he said the state has $20 million for four counties," Alkhatib said. "I stressed to him our readiness to proceed with emergency work that will protect our residents and county, including infrastructure.”
Alkhatib asked the secretary waive the local 50% match requirement for the $3.7 million available to Flagler County from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, the release said, in order to further the FEMA project from Hurricane Dorian, in 2019. That project will rebuild the dunes south of Washington Oaks, past MalaCompra Park, Alkhatib said.
The Hurricane Dorian project is currently out for bid, the release said, and construction is expected to begin in January 2023.
“Flagler County is also asking FDEP for $78 million for recovery from Ian and to waive the local match,” Alkhatib said. “We understand there is going to be an emergency legislative meeting about this. I believe he will be a strong advocate for us after seeing our damages in person. It made a difference.”
