PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Thinking of heading to one of Pinellas County's sandy white beaches ahead of the Christmas holiday? While you're encouraged to enjoy the beaches, county leaders have a simple instruction — please stay off the sand dunes!
The strong Gulf storm that blew through over the weekend caused "significant" damage to the dunes, ones that were already being restored from extreme erosion the beaches incurred in late August from Hurricane Idalia.
In addition to steering clear of the dunes, county leaders are asking people to be very careful at access points, some of which are closed due to safety concerns.
"Headed to the beach this week? Please stay off the sand dunes and be extra cautious at the access points. Pinellas County’s new sand dunes sustained significant erosion from the weekend storm, and some of the access points are closed off for safety," the county said Tuesday morning in a tweet.
County leaders said that while the dunes did their job protecting most of the mainland, the full extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Leaders are asking any homeowners in the area to leave the sand undisturbed.
"While the dunes did their job in providing protection from storm surge, County staff are still assessing damage," the county said in a tweet. "Property owners should not attempt move or disturb the placed sand."
For the last few months, Pinellas County invested millions of dollars, about $25 million to $30 million to be more specific, into restoring sand dunes. But when Hurricane Idalia hit, the rain, storm surge and a king tide were a perfect recipe for disaster.
The storm stripped Pinellas County beaches bare. Much of the beach and the dunes washed away along beaches that were already desperately overdue for beach renourishment.
With beaches in such a vulnerable position, the county decided to restore the dunes, separate from the beach renourishment project, after Idalia.
The sand is the first line of defense when a storm makes landfall. The more sand and dunes, the less flooding inland communities see.
To see which beaches across Pinellas County are open, click here.
10 Tampa Bay's Malique Rankin contributed to this report.