'We didn't think it would be this bad': Beachfront homes in small Florida community washed away by Hurricane Nicole - CNN

CNN  — 

Trip Valigorsky’s beachfront location successful a tight-knit assemblage successful Volusia County, Florida had been successful his household for astir 15 years earlier it was washed distant this week, arsenic the unsafe tempest surge and almighty winds caused by Hurricane Nicole swept crossed Florida.

“This location was my grandma’s favourite place,” Valigorsky told CNN. “Some of the champion memories with her were here.”

Valigorksy is conscionable 1 of galore residents successful the beachfront vicinity of Wilbur-By-The-Sea whose homes were damaged oregon destroyed by the storm.

In Volusia County, astatine slightest 49 beachfront properties, including hotels and condos, person been deemed “unsafe” successful the aftermath of Nicole, which deed Florida’s eastbound seashore southbound of Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane aboriginal Thursday earlier weakening into a tropical tempest and yet becoming a post-tropical cyclone Friday afternoon.

Video from the region shows homes crumbling, reduced to wreckage, arsenic Nicole’s waves erode the coastline. Separate video shows the county’s formation information bureau collapsing into the rising water.

Sea level successful this portion of Florida has risen much than a ft successful the past 100 years, according to information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and astir of that emergence has occurred successful the past 3 decades.

Scientists and researchers person agelong warned that oversea level emergence is starring to much erosion and high-tide flooding — peculiarly during utmost coastal storms.

This has enactment adjacent much accent connected seawalls that are meant to support coastal communities from precocious waves and h2o levels, galore of which were destroyed this week by the tempest surge. One seawall that was enactment up connected Tuesday, which Valigorsky and his neighbors had hoped would support their properties from damage, crumbled into the water by Wednesday, helium said.

“It was stressful wondering if it would fall, and present we are,” Valigorsky said.

On Wednesday morning, Valigorsky decided to drawback his indispensable belongings and his canine to evacuate the country arsenic helium watched the tempest go adjacent much severe. By the clip helium returned, each that remained of his location was the store and the beforehand foyer.

As his assemblage begins to rebuild their vicinity successful the aftermath of Nicole, Valigorsky said helium plans to reconstruct his location alongside his neighbors who besides mislaid theirs.

Another resident, Phil Martin, mislaid his full location during the hurricane this week.

“It was the astir devastating happening to see,” Martin said. “We didn’t deliberation it would beryllium this bad.”

Martin said helium has lived successful the country for 2 years and the location was his imperishable residence wherever helium spent clip with his children and grandchildren, playing shot successful the backyard oregon walking down to the beach.

“There’s nary authorities astatine the beach, everyone gets along,” Martin said, adding that his assemblage and those surrounding Wilbur-By-The-Sea are keeping his spirits high.

“Everything happened precise accelerated with this one,” helium said. “But we’re going to rebuild, we’ve got this.”

Just six weeks ago, Hurricane Ian’s tempest surge eroded parts of Florida’s eastbound coast, hitting the country wherever a seawall was built down Martin’s location arsenic good arsenic his neighbors’. Now, helium said, that seawall is gone.

The back-to-back quality of storms is making seawalls – which are already aging – much vulnerable, Brian McNoldy, a elder probe subordinate astatine the University of Miami’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, antecedently told CNN.

“It doesn’t truly instrumentality a beardown tempest – you conscionable request precocious tides oregon storm-agitated tides to lavation distant oregon enactment other accent connected the walls,” helium said. “Having these 2 storms six weeks apart, if you don’t springiness places immoderate clip to repair oregon replenish, each tempest decidedly leaves its mark.”

Arlisa Payne, who has been a nonmigratory of the beachfront assemblage for astir of her life, told CNN affiliate Spectrum News 13 that she’s “never seen thing similar this” aft assessing the harm caused by Hurricane Nicole.

Although her location survived the storm, Payne said that she is acrophobic the seawall successful beforehand of her location is astatine hazard of collapsing.

The parent of 4 children said galore of her neighbor’s homes were not damaged by Hurricane Ian but they were deed hard by Nicole, making it hard for the assemblage to hole for specified storms.

“I deliberation this caught a batch of radical disconnected guard,” she said. “How bash you hole for this? People can’t hole for it.”