Birds. Nutria. Debris. 26 miles of Coast beaches now closed after Cristobal
Editor’s note: All Harrison County beaches were reopened as of July 2.
The Harrison County Board of Supervisors has closed 26 miles of sand beach because of health hazards Tropical Storm Cristobal created, board president Connie Rockco said Tuesday.
“This tropical storm has been like a Category 1 or 2 hurricane for us,” Rockco said after the meeting. “It’s caused more damage than we’ve ever seen a tropical storm cause.”
Cristobal washed up birds and nutria, both dead and alive, and marsh grass from Louisiana marshes. Beach outfalls have failed and debris lines the shores.
Hancock County supervisors on Tuesday evening closed the county beach where debris is heaviest, from Washington Street to Clermont Harbor and will hire contractors for cleanup. Beach boardwalks and sidewalks remain open in both Harrison and Hancock counties.
Harrison County already has a cleanup contract in place with CrowderGulf , a disaster relief and debris removal company out of Alabama.
The company starts work Wednesday morning, county sand beach Director Chuck Loftis said. No one area is worse than the other, he said.
“The whole 26 miles is bad,” Loftis said. “A lot of the material is still floating out in the water and coming in.
“We’re trying to get things moving as quickly as possible,” he said. “We’re going to try to start working in the high-use areas first and try to get those areas open as quickly as possible.”
Loftis said up to a thousand birds that washed up are clapper rails. He said the Audubon Society has been overwhelmed with calls but does not have enough centers to take them in.
“It’s a sad situation, it really is,” Loftis said. “Hopefully, some of them will fly and go back to their natural area, but I’m not sure.”
Rockco said: “They’re disoriented. Some of them are being hit and killed on U.S. 90. Their chicks are on the beach.”
Supervisors declared a state of emergency, she said, in hopes of securing state and federal funds to help pay for the cleanup.
Cristobal made landfall on Sunday in Louisiana, bringing heavy rain and a 5-foot surge to parts of the Coast.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the last storm that required outside help for cleanup, Loftis said. Cristobal, he said, caused more damage than county crews alone can clean up in a timely fashion.
Jackson County’s beaches in Pascagoula and Ocean Springs will remain open. There’s hope that work crews will be able to clear whatever debris there is on the beaches by the start of the weekend.
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 2:33 PM.
