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Water-Related News

AMI renourishment provides beach buffer for Eta, future storms

People have been wondering: Did Tropical Storm Eta suck all the sand off recently renourished beaches?

The storm’s passage through the Gulf of Mexico Nov. 11, about 100 miles from Anna Maria Island, coincided with high tide, creating about a 3-foot tidal surge.

Social media lighted up Nov. 12 with questions about how Eta might have affected the sand replenishment — a $17 million project which started July 8 near 77th Street in Holmes Beach and will soon terminate at Longboat Pass.

The project, which involves pumping sand from borrow areas via a dredge about a quarter-mile offshore to replenish eroded beaches, paused for storms Laura, Sally, Delta, Zeta and Eta.