Erosion from Hurricane Idalia closes Indian Rocks Beach access points

INDIAN ROCK BEACH, Fla. - The City of Indian Rocks Beach has closed 14 of its 28 access points due to extreme beach erosion caused by Hurricane Idalia. 

Indian Rocks Beach Mayor Cookie Kennedy says this was an issue even before Idalia, estimating it only had about 40% of its normal sand levels. The city took new measurements since Idalia and is expected to get those results soon. 

But, the impacts are clear to the naked eye. There are up to 5-foot gaps between access ramps and the sand. Idalia also stripped vegetation along the shoreline and uprooted palm trees.

READ: Citrus County business owners left picking up pieces in Hurricane Idalia aftermath

The sand on Indian Rocks Beach hasn’t been renourished since 2018. The city, neighboring beach municipalities and Pinellas County applied for renourishment funds since, but became one of 11 counties in Florida to be denied by the Army Corps of Engineers. 

Mayor Kennedy said she and other leaders even traveled to Washington D.C. to request federal funding. 

Over the weekend, The Army Corps of Engineers is expected to walk the beaches for damage assessments. 

Mayor Kennedy hopes seeing the impacts in person will favor the chances for funding. In the meantime, the city is turning to alternatives. 

"We are coming up with a plan to see if there’s any kind of funding available, we think there is," the mayor said. "Some of them, we’re going to actually maybe have to trim down because the sand is so far down."