Travel - Hurricane Dennis storm surges Emerald Coast

On July 10, 2005, Hurricane Dennis made landfall under 100 miles west of the area of NW Florida known as Seagrove Beach. These pictures from July 14 and 16 show the damage caused by the storm surge.

Bobbie the turtle watcher walks the beach at dawn each summer morning on the look out for new turtle nests. He attaches a green warning tag to countless obstacles thoughtlessly left on the beach overnight.

Each year and each storm have eroded the dunes that protected this house, which is situated too close to the outfall connecting Eastern Lake with the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Dennis ate at the underpinnings, so Walton County granted an emergency permit to dredge a channel east (left) of here. Also they bulldozed sand to shore up the house and cut off the previous outfall.

The storm surge destroys faces of the sand dunes, revealing the layers of previous years. The beautiful white crystal sand dusts over the surface, already rebuilding. The plants are uprooted but still holding on to the almost vertical banks.

See Eastern Lake or the Florida travel page.

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