Jekyll Island sustains severe beach erosion

For the first time since Hurricane Irma, families were allowed to return to Jekyll Island.

On Thursday, Action News Jax took a tour with the chief operations officer for Jekyll Island Authority to get an up-close look at the damage.

Noel Jensen said the beach took a beating. He said they lost between 60 and 80 feet of dunes.

“The dunes did what they were supposed to do, to protect the buildings and the property behind it,” Jensen said.

Jensen said the dunes were never able to fully recover from Hurricane Matthew. At this time, he said there are no plans to rebuild the dunes because it’s complicated and costly.

“Our conservation department likes to have things restored in a natural state and the best way to do it is let mother nature do it for you through wind and sand carry,” Jensen said.

Jensen said the impacts from Irma were different from Matthew.

“We had more infrastructure issues with power transmission and trees breaking water lines because of the high winds sustained for a longer period of time during Hurricane Irma than Matthew,” Jensen said.

He said they are now in the cleanup and recovery phase. Even though neighbors are allowed back on the island, Jensen said if you can delay your return, please do so.

“It give us an opportunity to get back up on our feet and we appreciate that effort,” Jensen said.

As crews work to restore power and water services to a majority of the island, a boil water advisory remains in place.

Overall, Jensen said Jekyll Island was very fortunate.

“I think that we are going to bounce back really fast,” Jensen said.

Cox Media Group