The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will fund a flood and storm damage reduction project (beach nourishment) for the Town of Surf City, Mr. R. D. James, assistant secretary of the Army of Civil Works announced earlier this week.
According to the announcement, Surf City and North Topsail Beach will be receiving $237 million for federal beach nourishment.
Mr. R. D. James stated: “ The supplemental funding allocated to these projects will help to ‘move dirt’ and reduce the flood risk to these communities from storms in the future.”
The news was also confirmed by Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis who said that the Army Corps will award an additional $281 million to Surf City/North Topsail Beach and Carteret County, N.C. for storm damage reduction projects as the communities continue to recover from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence.
The Federal Funding Awards for North Carolina include: $237 million for North Topsail Beach, $44.5 million for Carteret County (Bogues Banks) and $39.6 million for Princeville.
“ After the historic damage inflicted by recent hurricanes, it was clear that more preventive measures needed to be taken to better protect our coastal communities. This additional $281.5 million allocation will do just that, ” said Senator Burr .
“ This award to help North Topsail Beach and Carteret County with flood and storm damage projects has been a top priority of mine and I have worked tirelessly with Senator Burr to secure funding to help these communities recover and be better prepared for future storms ,” said Senator Tillis .
At this time the Town of Surf City has filed for the full nourishment project permit. The Town anticipates an issued permit in early 2020.
Once the permit has been issued the town will put out for bid for the sand dredge. Once the dredge bid is accepted then the town will have a tentative start date for sand placement.