NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – New Smyrna Beach is back in business a day after Hurricane Nicole caused extensive beach erosion and destruction along Volusia County’s coastline.
“Hurricane Nicole was not nearly as bad as Hurricane Ian. For the most part after less than a day we’re mostly back to operations normal,” Phillip Veski, the city’s public information officer said. “Like most of Volusia County, a lot of the damage that we saw was associated with beach erosion.”
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The impact of Hurricane Nicole along the sea walls of two condos prompted city officials to evacuate more than a dozen residents from both Las Brisas Condominium, and Seacoast Gardens II.
“Both of the structures were evacuated also a couple of single-family structures that we saw there’s about a quarter of the foundation for one structure that’s hanging out over the dune,” Veski said. “There were 15 people evacuated from Seacoast Gardens II and a handful of others from Las Brisas.”
The city deemed the following buildings unsafe after teams conducted damage assessments:
- 1006 17th Ave.
- 2701 Hill St.
- Las Brisas, 3001 S. Atlantic Ave.
- Sea Coast Gardens II, 4151 S. Atlantic Ave.
- 4303 S. Atlantic Ave.
- Sea Dunes Sand Dollar, 4305 S. Atlantic Ave. #1, 2, 3, 4
- Sea Dunes Nautilus, 4365 S. Atlantic Ave. #A1, A2, A3
- Pieces of Eight, 4375 S. Atlantic Ave. #A1, A3, A4
The city is also urging people not to go to the beaches, even though the evacuation and curfew orders have been lifted. Aside from the waves and currents being hazardous still, the city still needs more time to assess the damage to all coastal structures. Officials worry some may collapse without warning, even if there are no signs of damage.
The beach ramp off of 27th Avenue and South Atlantic Avenue had to be closed after pavers in the boardwalk gave way and collapsed.
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