FL

Storm restoration across Flagler County

Flagler County's 19-mile Atlantic coastline sits on a narrow, low barrier island where State Road A1A runs yards from the ocean, leaving it highly exposed to hurricane-driven storm surge and wave action. Hurricane Matthew (2016) passed 30 miles offshore as a Category 3 and still delivered a 7-foot storm surge that collapsed 1.3 miles of A1A, destroyed the dune system, and caused roughly $50 million in damage; Hurricanes Ian and Nicole struck in quick succession in 2022, erasing most of a prior $18 million beach renourishment project and permanently closing the historic 1928 Flagler Beach Pier. The county's flat, canal-laced interior means that even storms tracking far to the west - such as Hurricane Charley (2004) and Hurricane Milton (2024) - drive widespread inland freshwater flooding in Palm Coast and Bunnell, compounding coastal surge damage. Repeated storm cycles have demonstrated that successive storms within short windows produce cumulative destruction far exceeding any single event.