Storm Debris Cleanup Underway on Harrison County's Beach

By Keith Burton - GCN  9/17/08

While the Coast was spared from direct hits by hurricanes Gustav and Ike, the storms had a definite impact on Harrison County's 26-mile beach. Debris covers large sections of the beach from the seawall to the shoreline and cleaning up the mess will take months.

Work crews with the Harrison County Sand Beach Authority are busy with bull dozers and other heavy equipment scooping up boards, grass, bottles and tree debris that washed up during the storms.

 Officials with the county say the cleanup work will take four to six weeks, which means that the beach will not be cleaned up completely for the upcoming Cruisin' the Coast event that starts October 12.

Still, a sizeable portion will be ready for the annual Cruisin' event that draws thousands of visitors to the Coast each fall.

Meanwhile, the same crews with the Sand Beach Authority are still removing the Katrina-destroyed wooden boardwalks. That work is expected to be finished by December.

Harrison County's sand beach director Bobby Weaver estimates that current clean up will cost about $1.5 million. He expects the federal government to reimburse the county for the bulk of the money.