DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. — Someone caused more than a million dollars in damage to the new system designed to protect dunes and homes on the Volusia County coast after Hurricane Nicole.
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State officials installed a dam as a temporary fix for Daytona Beach Shores, but Wednesday night, vandals damaged the dam.
A tiger dam is orange tubes filled with ocean water stacked to create a barrier. It is about five feet tall to protect the coastline from high tide erosion and future storms.
Read: Volusia County farm loses half its crop to hurricane flooding
It was a chance to help families put pieces back together after they were broken by the storm.
Kay Eiler said that after the hurricane, the tiger dam will have a new solution if the next hurricane strikes again.
But officials said someone slashed the dam, ruining up to 1,000 feet of it.
Read: Tiger Dam being put in place in Volusia County as hurricane season comes to a close
Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said the dam was completely ripped apart. He said the focus is to get it back up.
“It’s probably about a 50 or 60% solution, but we’re trying to ensure that they know that they’re doing everything that we possibly can do to help save their homes from washing into the ocean,” he said.
Moving forward, the community has two options: station a law enforcement officer or take it all down, but that is not an option that Eiler wants to have on the table.
Read: Congressman Mike Waltz: Hurricane recovery in Volusia County a ‘top priority’
“We lost so much of the dune, it’s very important,” she said. “It’s a barrier island (so) when it gets wiped out, these homes are gone.”
Guthrie said they are checking cameras that are posted along the beach to observe the dam and they plan on prosecuting whoever is responsible.
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