HOLLYWOOD BEACH, Fla. – As Hurricane Nicole approached Florida on Wednesday, beachgoers and residents alike walked through the flooded Hollywood Beach Broadwalk.
High tides and stormy weather prompted large waves to pound over the sand — dragging some of it back to the sea. Shternie Lipszyc saw how city workers were rescuing wooden lifeguard stations.
“This one they were able to move just with the tractor. The next one further down the beach over there, they had to dig it out with shovels because it was buried,” Lipszyc said.
The city’s public works employees are dealing with the possibility of extensive beach erosion. There are already some beach nourishment projects in the works, but there may be a need for more.
Chris Arkalis is visiting Hollywood Beach from Boston. He said he had breakfast at a beachfront restaurant, paid his bill, and was walking out when he met with the changing weather.
“Everything came up over the top and all the barrels started floating around,” Arkalis said about a wave that reached over a wall that divides the beach area from the street and toppled the garbage cans.
Arkalis said the water came in just three or four feet away from the restaurant. Kelly Henderson, of the Broadwalk Restaurant at Grant Street, said they were open for business.
“I have never seen it like this before. I have been here four-and-a-half years, I mean it has come up a little bit, but it has been splashing inside,” Henderson said.
There was also some pooling on streets west of the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk.
Amid the stormy weather, the next high tide in Hollywood Beach is at about 9:35 p.m. and 10:15 a.m., on Thursday, according to Tideschart.
Hurricane Nicole is forecast to move inland in Florida and weaken to a tropical storm by Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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Torres contributed to this report from Miami.