Florida counties affected by hurricanes to get $100M for beach restoration

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced the distribution of $100 million that lawmakers approved in December for beach-restoration projects after Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole caused widespread erosion.

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Money will go to 16 counties, with Volusia County getting the biggest share at $37.6 million, DeSantis said during an appearance in Daytona Beach Shores. Among other large amounts, Lee County will receive $23 million, Flagler County will receive $17 million, St. Johns County will receive $4.6 million, Indian River County will receive $4 million and Brevard County will receive $3.2 million.

“We’ve worked really hard to help all of those communities with respect to Hurricane Ian,” DeSantis said. “But then what we had, November, just right after the election, I was down here looking at the damage from Hurricane Nicole. Not a Category 4 or 5 storm, but coming on the heels of Hurricane Ian, (it) did a lot of damage, particularly on our coastlines.”

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Ian made landfall Sept. 28 in Southwest Florida as a Category 4 storm and crossed the state. Nicole made landfall Nov. 10 near Vero Beach as a Category 1 storm.

Lawmakers approved the beach-restoration money during a special legislative session in December. House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said they will consider further assistance during this year’s regular session, which will start March 7.

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