Helene aftermath: What to do with the new mountains of sand on Bay Area beaches

Sand removal process begins after Helene

Lloyd Sowers reports

CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. - One major effect of Hurricane Helene is the mountains of sand along Tampa Bay area beaches. Streets in many of the region's beach towns are covered in sand – several feet deep in some spots thanks to record storm surge.

"It was a shock to see the big piles of sand up and down the beach," said Clearwater Beach resident Ed Goodman.

He and his wife Desi spent part of the year near St. Louis.

"This is like a three-foot snowstorm that doesn’t melt," said Goodman.

After Helene, video from a drone showed what looked like freshly plowed hot snow lining Gulf Boulevard from Madeira Beach and Treasure Island down through St. Pete Beach.

"We cleared Gulf Boulevard, that was the first thing," said Pinellas County Commissioner Charlie Justice. "That does create these piles of sand on the side. That’s the next step for us to tackle."

But, it’s not as easy as just putting hundreds of tons of sand back down by the water, where some spots on the beach sorely need it because of erosion.

READ: Hurricane Helene devastation could cost up to $34B, Moody's says

"There’s a lot of stuff out there. If it’s contaminated, we as a government can’t put it back on the beach," said Justice.

But in some places, it has to be moved from one spot to another before life can return to normal on the beaches.

"We’ve got to clear some of that sand before we can get to some of the utilities that we need to repair to bring everything back online," said Justice.

That’s no easy task, because in some places, the sand along the streets is five to six feet high. Crews are working to separate debris from sand using shovels and rakes. A pair of giant machines used to separate debris from sand are staged in a Clearwater Beach parking lot apparently ready to start.

MORE: FEMA centers in Bay Area offering help in applying for assistance after Helene

But neither Ed and Desi, nor anyone else, knows how long it will take to safely move these mountains of sand.

If you live or work on the beach and need to remove sand, officials have some guidelines.

If the sand has stains, it smells, or it includes debris, don’t put it back on the beach. If it’s clean, it smells okay and is uncontaminated, you can put it on the beach.

Officials are making holding areas where the sand that’s scooped up can be cleaned and put back. Nobody knows how long it will take, because they've never had this much sand washed up onto the streets.

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