St. Johns turns to FEMA funding for beach re-nourishment after Ian

ST. JOHNS, Fla — St. Johns County commissioners approved $325,000 in what will be the first step in getting federal funding for new beach re-nourishment projects along the coast after Hurricane Ian.

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According to the county’s emergency management director, the beaches lost a total of about 500,000 cubic yards of sand.

Action News Jax did the math to determine that’s enough sand to fill more than 150 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

“Walk the beach and you’ll probably see similar damage level to Matthew and Irma,” Dr. Joe Giammanco said.

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The funding will go towards getting easements for the projects along 25 miles of beachfront. Giammanco said there’s about 1,000 easements total needed. He wants 60% participation from homeowners before moving forward in certain areas.

“Once we have that full understanding of the beach…there’s different funding sources. Different projects. Different things that will come into play,” he said.

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The Emergency protective dune project would be covered by 75% of federal, 12.5% of county, and 12.5% of state dollars. It must be done within six months to get the money.

Giammanco will go back before commission with specifics in a few weeks.

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