WILBUR-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. — Some Volusia County residents say their storm recovery has been unprecedented, because the damage from Hurricane Nicole a year ago was itself unprecedented.

What You Need To Know

  • One year after Hurricane Nicole, parts of Volusia County's coastline are still in a state of recovery

  • Properties in Wilbur-by-the-Sea received the brunt of the storm

  • Officials say the beach is now in various stages of recovery, as natural vegetation and sand return

  • In the aftermath, Volusia County leaders met with state officials at various agencies to detail which plans worked — and which did not

Due to the extent of the damage caused by the storm, some Volusia County homeowners were allowed to build back seawalls past the May 1 start of sea turtle nesting season.

“If you had talked to me a year ago to say we have to allow construction after May 1st, I’d say there’s no way the feds and states would allow that, and we had that cooperation,” said Volusia County Growth and Resource Management director Clay Ervin. “And because of that, many homeowners can at least know they have a seawall in front of their property.”

Ervin, who oversees the permitting process in the county, said that many Volusia beaches are in various stages of building back — with some temporary measures like trap bags and vinyl fencing peppered among the permanent fixes, like sea wall reconstruction.

“Natural dune systems are restoring themselves, armament is coming in, so private properties are protected, and more importantly, protecting natural resources of the beach itself,” Ervin said, adding that he is “encouraged” by what he has seen.

Now, nearly a year after the storm — the follow-up Hurricane to Ian, which washed away already struggling structures and fortifications — some homeowners are in better spots than others.

Lawrence Rust and his wife, Jean, moved from Philadelphia to Wilbur-by-the-Sea in 2020, one week before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Their yellow beachside home has been in Lawrence's family for decades, and the couple wished to spend more time with his 95-year-old mother.

“It’s been our family home almost 40 years," he said, motioning to the splintered deck boards below him. "My father sat here on this deck for 30 years ... I’m not sure what we’re going to do.”

The uncertainty comes from the state of their property. While “buttoned up” for the season, the inside is gutted — Lawrence said water ruined much of the formerly bright and airy home.

Hurricane Ian ripped away the Rusts' protective seawall, which, a few weeks later, allowed Hurricane Nicole to cause so much damage that county officials marked the building as being at risk of collapse.

“Seeing what other damage had happened up and down the coast, I didn’t know if we would walk through the front door and just see space,” Jean said  with tears in her eyes. “Every little thing you have, you rediscover it.”

Jean, who volunteers weekly for a beach turtle patrol, said that each post-storm stroll in the name of conservation also became a way to keep tabs on recovery along their beach.

“I’ve seen houses in this ‘degraded’ state — like a thunderstorm comes and you’re like, ‘That roof wasn’t on the beach before,’” she said. “Who could get to their house in time, who made attempts between one storm and the next to make changes, and what worked or didn’t.”

"Hot washing" recovery and response

After the back-to-back hurricanes, the Rusts said that they, unlike so many others, were fortunate.

Lawrence’s construction background made him particularly adept at determining what work needed to be done — and then finding reputable contractors who had the ability to do it.

Yet, the damage was so extensive that the couple had to find a rental property to live in — another hurdle because of the already tight rental market. They eventually found one tucked away on Oriole Avenue — several blocks away from Atlantic Avenue where many homes bore the brunt of the storms.

“We looked and looked and looked and could not find anything," Lawrence said. "(We) ran into this gentleman who had this house for rent, so we had a stroke of good luck, or fate or we were blessed. I’m going with we were blessed on that one.”

As the Rusts remain in litigation with their insurance company, their frustrations are not unique:  A myriad of repairs linger along the Volusia County coast.

Often, Ervin said frustrations with the recovery process boiled over and found their way to his door. And he acknowledged that delays in the permitting process, pauses for turtle nesting and temporary measures put him in a precarious spot. 

“Unfortunately, the time frame and abilities to reply to that took longer than folks really wanted, than we wanted,” he said. “When you start looking at this coming year, you’re going to see the Department of Emergency Management, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Fish and Wildlife Commission are already working with us to say, ‘OK, what are the lessons we learned and how can we make it better?’”

Ervin said that Volusia County officials recently met with various state agencies to “hot wash” the situation and hash out what worked — and what did not. Moving forward, he said that “nimbleness” will be key for recovery.

Ervin said the county also took efforts to “understand the anger and frustration” residents were feeling by holding information sessions and open houses, and relaxed permit fees for hurricane-related damage and expedited some permit waiting times.

Now, as the Rusts wrap up their own repairs, they said that they remain optimistic for their beachside bungalow. 

Having been married for 15 years, they say they have weathered other, more pressing storms together by employing patience and gleaning perspective.

“I have a brain tumor and I wound up in the hospital in intensive care at Advent,” Lawrence said. “And when I walked out of there that January, I learned something here: You have to go along with everything. You can’t fuss and go against the grain. You gotta go with the current, go with the waves. And that’s what I’ve learned to do.”