Surfers enjoyed a few days of 4- to 12-foot waves along much of the county’s coast.
Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
The bottom of the boardwalk at the Lantana Beach disappeared with the waves.
Recently planted sea grapes in Ocean Ridge were moved a few lots to the south.
By Cheryl Blackerby
Spectators gathered at the Boynton Inlet and the Lantana boardwalk to watch the high waves and dramatic ocean spray that hit county beaches Dec. 9. It was a rare and exciting event for surfers, but caused some minor erosion on the beaches and flooding on the Intracoastal side of the islands.
Caused by a storm far offshore, the huge surf and resulting beach erosion prompted Martin County to declare a local state of emergency, but islands farther south had more Intracoastal flooding than loss of sand.
“South Palm Beach County fared better than the northern part of the county,” said Michael Stahl, environmental program supervisor for the Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management.
The only report of significant beach erosion was in Lantana, where the waves destroyed the stairs leading to the beach behind the Dune Deck restaurant and the beach — usually narrow even at low tide — was nonexistent.
“Lantana had some public access to the beach washed out,” Stahl said. “But they have built back the stairs, and have already applied to the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) for a field permit to put back sand.”
The town is allowed to immediately replenish 200 cubic yards of sand under a field permit, he said.
The surging seas pushed into the dune line on Ocean Ridge’s beach, and in Gulf Stream, the combination of high tides and aging infrastructure caused back-flooding problems.
Town Manager William Thrasher said water gushed through a hole in an underground drainage pipe and flooded parts of Polo and Banyan streets and swales in the lower, north end of town, near the Intracoastal. Thrasher said contractors will likely have to install a new lining inside the old pipe to repair the damage.
“We recognize that the system needs to be worked on,” he said. “We’ve already begun talking with our contractor and dealing with the problem.”
In Manalapan, coastal residents were scratching their heads as water bubbled up in front of the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, completely covering A1A, under clear skies.
And Intracoastal water washed over the grassy swale on the Intracoastal side of A1A.
The swales on Point Manalapan also flooded in what is becoming a chronic problem along Lands End and Spoonbill roads.
Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf is calling on Palm Beach County firefighters for help. The plan is to let them use their firehoses to flush out the outfall lines on the point to see if blockages in the pipes are causing the water to back up.
The town is also working with engineers to assess the possibility of reconstructing swales that have grown too high over the years and aren’t functioning properly to funnel water off the streets.
“Over time, the swales have gotten built up to a point where they don’t do the job they were intended to do,” Stumpf said.
Manalapan is at the mercy of state officials when it comes to dealing with A1A, however.
Stumpf said the Florida Department of Transportation has earmarked money in its next budget to work on the troublesome stretch of A1A and install outfalls to channel water off the road. But it could be as long as a couple of years before the project moves from the budget room in Tallahassee to construction on the pavement in Manalapan.
She described the beach erosion caused by the big waves Dec. 9 as minimal.
There was some loss of sand at Boca Raton’s north beach, where a renourishment project ended in December, but two weeks later that sand was already washing back, said Jennifer Bistyga, coastal engineer with the city of Boca Raton.
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