Recently repaired Ponce Inlet Jetty damaged by Ian

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - Winds from Tropical Storm Ian damaged the recently repaired jetty in Ponce Inlet.

"They just fixed it so you could ride on it again and now it’s gone again," said Cindy Rutz.

Rutz lives in Ponce Inlet, and like many, she takes walks to the jetty, a community staple frequented by surfers and fishermen. She watched as crews made the jetty stronger over the past year.

"I saw them working on it, so they were adding big rocks, big boulders and they repaired the wooden part of the fence, so we were able to walk on it again," she said.

Rutz is talking about a $7 million project by the Army Corps of Engineers that began last summer. The county said the project had been completed prior to the storm.

John Carney, who lives in the small coast town, said he hopes the overall damage is not too bad.

"The stairway to the jetty is gone, like the walkway to it got wiped up, but the jetty kind of looks OK," he said.

Around the jetty, broken walkways from nearby homes cover the beach. Residents say there’s a lot of work ahead.

"Beach is just loaded with debris, all the staircases washed up onto the beach up onto the dune. It's just a big mess. It's gonna take a long time to get back to normal," said Carney.

Beyond the walkway, the extent of the damage to the jetty is still unclear.

The county tells FOX 35 it is still in the process of accessing the damage and should have a better idea by the end of the week.