Volusia County beach officials urge caution amid major damage, debris from Ian

People visiting Volusia County’s beaches are seeing major damage left behind by Tropical Storm Ian. 

Beach Safety tells FOX 35 News there are several collapsed seawalls, damaged walkovers along with piles of debris.  One of the hardest hit areas was Daytona Beach Shores. 

"There’s a lot of things sticking up from the sand that got washed up. It’s actually very dangerous," said beach visitor Valentina Peacock.

Dunlawton Avenue, one of the county’s busy ramps, was hit hard. Cpt. Tamra Malphurs says it could take a while to open some areas of the beach.

"There will be several portions of the beach that won’t reopen for quite a while. We need people to please be patient," she said.

Cpt. Malphurs says they are starting to reopen portions of the beach where they are able. She says extreme high tide has been making it difficult. 

"We have all the debris picked up, and we have to get those conservation poles put into the ground before we can open areas to driving," she said.

Cpt. Malphurs says right now the county is assessing the damage and working to get contractors down to fix things like ramps and walkovers. 

Beach safety is asking people to use extreme caution when visiting the beach.

"Everyday we're down there we’re picking up debris that may have walked in from those high tides but use extreme caution when you’re walking the beach," said Cpt. Malphurs.