The Hurricane Ian backlash of heavy northeast surf over the weekend did not do any additional damage to the stairs.
The East Pebble Path beach access stairs had minor damage to a rail and one step washed away. Luckily the step that washed away ended up on Wabash beach where it was retrieved and reinstalled today. The rail is back in place and the stairs are useable.
The East Barefoot Place crossover sustained no damage and is useable.
The East Shell stairs were damaged and are not useable at this time. The bottom 7 steps washed away but the upper 9 steps and the four primary posts were saved by the quick thinking of Dave Wolfram. He called me to let me know the steps were under siege and provided strapping that we used to secure the top posts, rails and steps against the backwash off the seawall. It will take at least 2 weeks to get the repairs done as we need an open board meeting and approval for the materials purchase and a gathering of the volunteers to make the repairs.
Fortunately, much of the sand that washed away Saturday has returned and the beaches are beautiful and deep, easy to access and walk on. We were lucky again with this storm.
John Lehnhardt – SIA President