Hurricane Debby did more than just eat away at the already thin Pinellas beaches. It tore up Tampa's most popular beach.
The brunt of Debby's waves came directly up the mouth of Tampa Bay and went northeast into the Courtney Campbell Causeway. There, it tore away at tree roots and upended concrete barriers.
Ping Wang, a professor specializing in coastal research at the University of South Florida, has been monitoring Ben T. Davis Beach for several years. He said the loss of sand is compounding the problem.
"When you have a sandy beach, they help slow down the erosion. Once the sandy beach is gone, then the erosion comes in, starts to attack the vegetation and attack the road," he said. "And there is actually a migration of erosion from east to west over the past 30 years."
He says the water has gotten close to the popular Courtney Campbell Trail and the guard rail for the highway.
"The Ben T. Davis Park is quite popular, it has lots of parking spots. People are just standing on the sea wall and looking to the sea," Wang said. "If we would create a beach and a little sand dune, that would really improve the recreation area."
Wang said he will propose an artificial reef be established just offshore that would help stop future storms from eating away at the beach and the causeway. Funding could possibly come from the city of Tampa and the state Department of Transportation.
