DAPHNE – Hurricane Zeta caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage along the Eastern Shore, but because Baldwin County was not included in the federal disaster declaration, local municipalities are having to pay much of those costs.
On Monday, March 1, the Daphne City Council voted to pay $108,500 to repair damage to boardwalks, piers and other waterfront city property caused by the hurricane. Mayor Robin LeJeune said the storm caused other damage as well, but the losses are not covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“That's not all our damage,” LeJeune said. “That is damage on the Village Point area with our boardwalks and our piers and things of that nature. Because FEMA did not declare this side of the bay a disaster area, we're having to foot the bill ourselves.”
The repair costs were not included in the current budget. Council members voted to appropriate the $108,500 from the General Fund.
The appropriation covers damage to the Village Point boardwalk, May Day Park pier and boardwalk, Belrose Bay access and McMillian Bluff Park, according to the ordinance approved by the City Council.
Zeta struck the northern Gulf Coast on Oct. 28. The storm came ashore in Mississippi before moving into Alabama in Mobile County.
While Hurricane Sally, which came ashore in Baldwin County on Sept. 16, was a stronger storm and struck closer to the Eastern Shore, its eye was east of Mobile Bay. Zeta was to the west.
Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere. From its landfall near Gulf Shores, Sally’s rotation pushed water out of Mobile Bay. Zeta, in Mississippi and Mobile County, pushed water into the bay and the surge caused flooding and damage to piers and other waterfront facilities.
Other areas of the Eastern Shore were also hit by Zeta’s storm surge. In Fairhope, several city piers were damaged. The Fairhope Municipal Pier has been without water, power or sewer service since the storm damaged utility lines under the wharf. A recent bid to repair the damage came in at $237,000.
Counties to the west in Alabama and Mississippi were declared disaster areas, making the areas eligible for federal emergency funding. Baldwin County was not included in the declaration for Hurricane Zeta.
