August Storm Runs Off With Gulfport’s Fresh Sand

The National Weather Service alerted Gulfport residents a Flash Flood Warning around 9 p.m. Aug. 10. The community woke up to damaged beach volleyball courts once again, despite the City laying new sand down back in July.

Streets throughout Gulfport, including in the Stetson and Tangerine neighborhoods, experienced the forewarned flash flooding despite having some distance —both horizontally and vertically— from the bay. 

Runoff from the flood reopened old wounds at the corner of 54th Street and Shore Boulevard. Streams gashed open the municipal beaches. Downtown businesses took on water. 

How Did We Get Here?

“Basically, we’re just getting sand for $185,000?” Vice Mayor April Thanos asked at the July 1 Gulfport City Council meeting.

“It’s 1,400 tons of sand,” Public Works Director Tom Nicholls said in reply.

Council passed the resolution to buy those truckloads of sand. The sand was then used to fill in damage left from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

And it All Goes Downhill From There

On the evening of Aug 10, a flash flood drenched Gulfport, putting Florida’s new no-wake law to the test for the first time. The water that wasn’t drunk by the stormwater system ran south to the Gulf.

“It ran off pretty quick because we were at a low tide,” Tom Nicholls, Gulfport’s Public Works director, said. “[The runoff] eroded some of our sand. It also did some undermining at 54th [Street] and Shore [Boulevard].”

The runoff water cut channels through the new sand near the Casino and right through both volleyball courts. The fast water Nicholls mentioned overpowered the yellow turbidity barriers designed to keep the sediment from sweeping out to sea. The barriers are rated to hold up to 5 feet per second of current and were overwhelmed.

Beach Recovery Recovery

“I’m still waiting on an Army Corps of Engineers permit to do the final beach restoration to get it all done. I’m going to have to add some more sand, obviously, to that,” he said.

In the meantime, Sam Anany, a Gulfport Public Works employee, went out around 9:30 a.m. Aug. 11 on a backhoe with a giant comb attachment to rake out the municipal beach.

He said that his goal was to remove any uneven ground where people could trip, especially important where people play volleyball. Anany said his work was a morning-of, temporary fix.

“They sent me to put a Band-Aid on it,” he said.

The City is still bidding out the reconstruction at the corner of 54th Street and Shore Boulevard, and until the street and sea wall are rebuilt, water can flow through unobstructed.

“Having the sea wall done would have made it better,” Dakota Barrows, one of the Public Works employees tasked with clearing debris near O’Maddy’s and Williams Pier.

At 10 a.m. Aug. 11, the crew was clearing out bricks, rogue watercraft, and other debris around the potable water line that services the casino.

Until the City bids and builds a sea wall and the Army Corps of Engineers permit allows the City to finish the job at the beach, Public Works can only refill hemorrhaged sand and hope for fair weather.

“If we have this type of rain events, there’s not a whole lot we can do at this point,” Nicholls said.

Close your eyes and make a wish. As of the morning after the storm, Aug. 11, 111 days remain until hurricane season ends.

Wet Opens in Downtown Gulfport

The unnamed rain of Aug. 10 also found its way into downtown Gulfport businesses. Not a week open, V-Roll braced for impact by damming under its doors, but received no water.

Further south and lower in elevation, Stormrunners Tavern, Tommy’s Hideaway, Gulfport Beach Bazaar, and the temporarily closed Neptune Grill all had water on their floors in the morning.

Stormrunners, with its epoxy floors, had to “just squeegee it out” before opening on the 11th, according to Manager Jason McKennon.

Manager Debbie McHugh started mopping at 8:30 a.m. at Tommy’s Hideaway and didn’t open until the afternoon.

Beach Bazaar’s General Manager Mike Hooper came in the night of the storm to sandbag the large gaps under their doors, having seen water on The Gabber Newspaper’s live feed of the Beach Boulevard. Employee Mike Morris said three staff members (all named Mike) mopped until lunchtime, with no stock damaged.

Help From Public Works

Nicholls suggested residents to call Public Works with any questions or concerns about storm drainage. Public Works checks all the storm drains every day; however, they can’t be everywhere at once.

“Just give me a call and we’ll get out to check it,” he said.

Call Gulfport Public Works at 727-893-1089.

We’re the calm during the storm. No hype, only help!

Bookmark The Gabber Newspaper‘s storm coverage page for quick access to relevant tropical storm updates. No hype, no guessing, just updates on shelters, sandbags, and closures. Sign up for text alerts to get real-time guidance and prep advice when there’s a named storm heading our way. Also, check out our downtown Gulfport and beach web cams.

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