STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

Tell us about it

• What would you add to this story? Tell us what we missed.
• Do you have photos from this event? Documents we need to see? Share with us.
• Upload photos & videos
• More ways to get your stuff online and in the paper.

RELATED STORIES

• Tropical Storm Fay: Storm slows down; landfall forecast north of Naples

Related Links

• INTERACTIVE WEATHER: Get Jim Syoen's interactive weather forecast.
• Severe Weather Guide 2008: All the news and information you need to prepare for and monitor the hurricane season.
• Blog: Read live blogs about Tropical Storm Fay

More Local News

• Bryan Milk named City of Marco Island Parks and Recreation Director
• Merchants pulling out all the stops to encourage Islanders to shop local
• City Manager's Weekly Report

Share and Enjoy [?]

NAPLES — Beach monitors in Southwest Florida will be keeping one eye on the sky and another on the coasts Tuesday.

In anticipation of a wallop from Fay, either as a tropical storm or a hurricane, crews took pictures of Collier County beaches Monday to be able to measure erosion damage after the storm passes, coastal zone management director Gary McAlpin said.

In 2001, beach damage from another blustery visitor, Tropical Storm Gabrielle, prompted an $8.5 million plan to put sand back onto the beaches, proving that it doesn’t take a hurricane to pack a coastal punch.

“A tropical storm can do a lot of damage, too,” McAlpin said Monday. “That’s why we’re taking this seriously.”

McAlpin said county government has a $3 million reserve to handle emergency beach restoration projects.

Surveyors might not head out to the beaches until Wednesday, depending on how quickly the skies clear up today, McAlpin said.

McAlpin said Hideaway Beach on Marco Island could be the most vulnerable beach in the county to coastal erosion.

Hideaway Beach has been at the center of a fight over funding for a $3.5 million project to install T-groins to hold sand on the beach.

Most Lee County beaches are in pretty good shape, but a delayed renourishment project at Fort Myers Beach has left part of the barrier island town vulnerable, said Steve Boutelle, a marine scientist with Lee County government.

In 2004, Hurricane Charley submerged all of Estero Island, the barrier island that is the town of Fort Myers Beach.

“It’s part of the reason we do beach projects,” he said. “We realize it’s a lot easier to replace sand than buildings.”

Besides threatening property, Fay could set back what so far has been a successful sea turtle nesting season in Southwest Florida.

As of the Aug. 11 count posted to Collier County’s Web site, almost 550 sea turtle nests remained unhatched on the county’s beaches, leaving them vulnerable to being washed out by Fay.

About half of the 50 nests on Fort Myers Beach and 25 of the 55 on Bonita Beach already hatched, said Eve Haverfield, who runs the nonprofit group TurtleTime Inc.

“But it pains to lose any of them,” she said.

Beyond the beaches, Fay could damage mangrove islands at the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve that are an important roosting site for herons and egrets.

“Those are areas that we’re going to be watching,” reserve manager Gary Lytton said.