Melbourne Beach residents struggle with beach erosion, could take weeks to assess damage

MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla. — In Brevard County, damage assessments are still underway.

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Drone 9 flew over Melbourne Beach and captured the erosion that is happening there.

Channel 9 has learned that it may take weeks to add up the full impact of Hurricane Nicole.

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Residents said it has been a long time since they have seen the beaches this damaged.

Some residents are hopeful that Mother Nature will return some of what was removed by Hurricane Nicole, but the storm left its mark on the county.

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In Brevard County’s south beaches, significant erosion has left little protection for some property owners.

The county has deemed more than a half-dozen homes and buildings in the areas of Melbourne Beach and Satellite Beach unsafe.

One resident said the impact has been significant given the tide patterns.

“At high tide, it comes all the way up, (and) right now we’re going to low tide, so we have a little beach,” Ed Patterson, a Melbourne Beach resident, said. “But if it was high tide, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here.”

Brevard County is still in the preliminary stages of its internal damage and Federal Emergency Management Agency assessments.

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Officials said Hurricane Nicole was more of a wind and erosion event than a rain event for the area.

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Tropical Storm Nicole The path of destruction left behind by Tropical Storm Nicole in New Smyrna Beach. (WFTV)

Brevard County Public Information Officer Rachel Horst said the county is 72 miles long and impacts in one area are different for others.

“We want to make sure we know what the damage is so we can advocate and put those resources to the correct places,” she said.

Brevard County encourages property and homeowners to submit online damage reports to Brevard County Emergency Management, which can be found here.

The county said the possibility of FEMA assistance after Nicole is still being determined, as it is early in the process.

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