Hurricane Noel Threatens Condos

PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 1, 2007— -- Construction crews are in a race against time to save a community that lives along the South Palm Beach beachfront. As hurricane Noel intensified over South Florida, it packed ferocious winds, causing a pounding surf that made a bad situation worse.

Cranes are hauling in blocks of cement, each weighing 6,000 pounds, in hopes of protecting this condominium building and its 15 units from falling into the ocean. Already, the unforgiving seas have taken the front yards right up to Bernie and Cathie Vukelich's sliding glass door.

The couple bought their condo 17 years ago as a place for their family to enjoy the ocean views and easy access to the beach. What used to be their front yard is now flooded with water.

"We had our grandchildren there many times," Bernie said. "I would mow it or have it mowed. We had shrubs all the way around. It was very nice."

The Vukeliches said they felt safe living so close to the ocean because they were protected by a sea wall.

"It's been there since 1959," Bernie said.

Unprecedented Damage

And while the sea wall had suffered wear and tear from other storms, nothing prepared them for what happened Monday as the ocean churned under Noel's advance.

"I had noticed earlier in the day that our left corner sea wall was separating from the north side sea wall," Cathie said.

They watched in disbelief as the storm began to tear away at the wall throughout the day, slicing it in half. By nighttime it had been knocked down, and its progression photographed by neighbors.

Cathie Vukelich was awake when the wall fell.

"The next thing I know I hear this loud thud, and I looked and turned the light on and looked out and I said, 'Bernie, wake up, the seawall is gone,'" she said. "It was scary, I mean, because it is nothing we have ever experienced before. I mean, I have experienced the high tides and the high winds. … You have that in Florida and especially when you are right on the water. But for that to happen with the sea wall gone, it was like our security was gone."

Now their home and the rest of the building were under attack.

"As the waves would go and come back out, they would take anything that was there with it," Bernie said. "And it got worse and worse and worse."

They knew they had to act fast or it would all be gone, so they contacted every agency they could think of to get an emergency permit so they could begin repairs right away.

A Fortunate Coincidence

In a stroke of luck, an excavation crew happened to be working at a beach hotel right next door and immediately drove a backhoe to the Vukeliches' beachfront community.

"These blocks weigh 6,000 pounds apiece, and they were hauling them in tandem," Bernie said. "We had four large pieces of excavating equipment out there for eight or nine hours yesterday [Wednesday]."

The storm continued to threaten this building, as well as hundreds more, and with billions of dollars at stake politicians came to check on the progress and pay a visit to the Vukeliches.

The mayor of South Palm Beach was the first to arrive. Bernie told him that this was the worst storm damage he had ever seen. Next arrived State Sen. Jeff Atwater, who represents the Vukeliches' beachfront community.

"If they had not come, Jeff, and stayed as long as they did, I would say the building would be in jeopardy," Bernie said. "It would have eaten away whatever was left."

Of course,. this isn't just a problem for the Vukeliches. There are 3 million people living along the Florida coast.

According to Atwater, thousands of properties are at risk, from Miami to Jacksonville.

"We have built this close to the ocean," Atwater said. "It is here now, and these are properties that are frankly supporting Florida's ability to build schools and provide hospital care with the residential value that is here. And so it is not unreasonable to protect what is on these barrier islands and what is across South Florida."

One Step Up, Two Steps Back

The waves take away a lot more sand than they leave behind, and storms such as Noel speed up the process, thereby moving the ocean's edge ever closer.

This is a line that is drawn in the sand by developers.

"Developers came in," said Daniel Bates, the environmental director of Palm Beach County, "and, not knowing any better, they saw this big wide beach and this big wide dune, and so they built on the back side of the dune."

Bates' job is to figure out how to ease erosion to protect homes as well as ocean habitat.

"They didn't realize that the dune was part of the beach, was part of the living beach, moving beach," he said. "So they built on it and now we have gotten to the point where in this county alone there is $20 billion worth of real estate along this 49 miles of coastline."

And along this coastline, the Vukeliches and their neighbors are just the latest to wage a war against an unpredictable sea.

The waves are part of the reason the Vukeliches moved to South Palm Beach.

"It is a beautiful site, to see nature in that form," he said. "We've loved it for years and that is the reason we came."

And that is also the reason they say they hope to stay.