Canaveral National Seashore faces severe erosion, loses 800 sea turtle nests from Milton

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Published  October 22, 2024 7:09pm EDT
FOX 35 Orlando
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Canaveral National Seashore faces severe erosion

Canaveral National Seashore is still recovering from Hurricane Milton. Flooding and severe erosion closed the park for days immediately after the storm. Some parts just re-opened to the public.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Canaveral National Seashore is still recovering from Hurricane Milton. 

Flooding and severe erosion closed the park for days immediately after the storm. Some parts have just reopened to the public. National park rangers from across the country are in Central Florida to help rebuild. 

Bulldozers were hard at work still clearing sand from covered roads on Tuesday. Tons of it are still covering several barricaded areas at the national park.

"The high winds, the high surf came in, pushed down the dunes we had been recovering from, so we’re right back to square one," said Laura Henning who’s the public information officer for the Canaveral National Seashore that spans both Brevard and Volusia counties. 

The park says it saw at least 10 feet of storm surge. While at the park, you can see how far salt water has come in because Henning says the brown plants on shore were submerged in salt. It’s been a rough few years at the federal park. They were wrapping up rebuilding from Hurricane Ian and Nicole when Milton moved in this month.

"It’ been a little frustrating," said Henning. 

Erosion at Canaveral National Seashore following Hurricane Milton
Erosion at Canaveral National Seashore following Hurricane Milton
Erosion at Canaveral National Seashore following Hurricane Milton

On Tuesday, three beach parking lots were safe enough to open on the Space Coast. 

"It’s always a waiting game and just grateful when it finally does open," said Rose Henderson who was visiting the seashore. 

She’s one of many who was sad to see the storm’s impact over the years.

"The sand has been virtually as high as the restrooms, which is crazy," said the avid beachgoers. 

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Hurricane Milton also hurt sea turtles.

"We did end up probably losing about 700-800 nests, anything that was left out there was gone," added Henning who says they had about 7,400 total nests this year on their beaches. 

"Yikes, that’s a ton," added Henderson. The sea turtle loss makes her "feel really really bad."

Boardwalks still need to be rebuilt, and coastal geologists are trying to find new ways to preserve the park.

Henning says their goal is to "make the areas that visitors come to more sustainable through these ‘bigger and badder’ storms."

Opening the entire park is a waiting game. Officials are working every day to repair and rebuild impacted areas. Follow Canaveral National Seashore on Facebook or Instagram to see when specific areas will be ready for visitors. 

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