*https://www.pnj.com - Gulf Islands estimates $4.5 million in damage from Hurricane Sally in Florida

Gulf Islands estimates $4.5 million in damage from
Hurricane Sally in Florida
Madison Arnold | Pensacola News Journal
Published 6:01 a.m. CT Nov 20, 2020

The Florida portions of the Gulf Islands National Seashore sustained more than $4.5 million in damages from Hurricane Sally, according to early estimates.

Much of the park still remains closed more than two months after the Category 2 hurricane. The largest damage came to the roadways with repairs estimated to cost close to $2 million, along with another $1.2 million to repair the "obliterated" ferry pier, said Superintendent Dan Brown. 

"We have this very, very long list of storm recovery projects and we're having to prioritize them," Brown said.

In all, the Florida side has 26 separate repair projects to do for Hurricane Sally, and about just as many on the Mississippi side following Hurricane Zeta.

In the past, Congress has passed supplemental appropriation for storm damage at National Parks but haven't done so for recent storms. Instead, the park will have to reprioritize its existing funding that it uses for regular rehab projects to those repairs needed following Sally.

"What is likely to happen is that our region for the National Park Service, the Southeast region of the country here, is going to have to reprioritize previously scheduled and prioritized projects and dump some projects down so that we can get our projects prioritized for repair," Brown said.

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