Florida neighbors build seawall hours before hurricane to save beachside business
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. - A beachside business owner in New Smyrna Beach is relieved her property was spared by the hurricane thanks to the help of her neighbors.
Teri Corbett and her husband own a small beachside inn called Angel Inn the Sand. Corbett remembers the fear she felt as Hurricane Nicole moved in last week. Ian destroyed the dunes that protected her property.
"The city actually called us and said it’s gonna fall if you don’t do something," she said.
Corbett said a crew scheduled to build protection canceled at the last minute. As the storm moved closed, she pleaded on social media for anyone to help.
"I said anybody that’s beachside and isn’t evacuating and has muscle," she said.
More than a dozen people – family, friends, neighbors – came over to help build a temporary sea wall hours before Nicole made landfall.
"And it was 648 bags of 60-pound concrete, and we did it by hand one by one," Corbett said.
Corbett said if they hadn’t built the seawall, her property would have been swallowed by the ocean. The business plans to install a permanent seawall but until then, Corbett said she feels protected.
She’s now working to help other property owners do the same.
"Try to help other homeowners who need temporary solutions right and show them that this is just sand built up on your house, and it does work," she said.