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Hurricane Matthew hits the Florida beaches.
Although Hurricane Matthew was not as relentless as Hurricane Katrina, it still affected various beaches, caused floods, and significant damage to KSC and other major architectural structures.
Fortunately, the eye of Category 3 Hurricane remained 25 miles off shore, so the beaches and towns did not experience the whole wrath of the hurricane. The wind blew with over 80 mph destroying the roofs of many buildings, ripping off trees, and causing millions of dollars of damage.
Dunes and beaches from North Carolina have been eroded by the hurricane in just a few hours. Worse, according to the statistics from the U.S. Geological Survey, over 50 percent of the beaches along the Gulf and East Coast are currently eroding.
The problem is that Florida has many artificial beaches in which officials invested a tremendous amount of money. As such, Hurricane Matthew didn’t just hit the beaches, but it also hit the local economy because a lot of money are needed to repair these touristic destinations.
Sea-level continues to rise while the weather forecast announced that storms would continue to hit Florida beaches. It is worth mentioning that Florida has the highest number of artificial beaches across the United States. Local, state and federal governments spent over $2 billion to design these touristic attractions.
Hurricane Matthew has hit four states which include 67 communities with artificial beaches. One of the areas severely affected by the storm is Edisto Beach where residents haven’t been granted access until Tuesday.
Many local agencies and the National Guard have doubled their efforts to remove sand and repair the damaged roads. Also, 13 South Carolina counties were declared as areas of federal disaster, including Colleton and Charleston counties.
Officials stress they are doing their best to ensure that Edisto Beach will be brand new as soon as possible. Hurricane Matthew also hit Kennedy Space Center, as many roofs of major facilities have been severely damaged while the interior was affected by water intrusion.
Air conditioning was no longer functional making it impossible for employees to return to work immediately after Hurricane Matthew. That is why, most of them had to wait a several days after all buildings dried out, especially the Operations Support Building II, which is still just 80 percent operational.
Image Source:Pixabay
