HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – People living on the coast in Hallandale Beach want city and county leaders to restore the sand washed away by Hurricane Sandy.
Six months after Sandy, the south end of Hallandale Beach near the county line is only a few yards wide in some areas.
"This is a shame. Look at it. It's a crime," said Joe Angileri. "I like to go fishing and bring stuff here and I couldn't do nothing."
"Two years ago, people were standing there all day long because the water wasn't coming up," said Claude Beaupre. "Now, if they come at low tide, two hours later they have to go back home because there's no sand to stay there."
"The hot spots down in segment three are always problematic," said Broward County beach erosion administrator Eric Myers.
Myers said that section of the county didn't qualify for federal beach renourishment money granted to Florida after Sandy. Instead, the county developed a hot spot program to restore areas that need new sand the most.
But the project could take three years to complete and the county must find funding.
"We're hoping that we can be spared a couple more years until we can get sand back on the beach again," said Myers.
Residents worry they don't have much of a beach buffer as hurricane season draws near.
"I mean, they haven't done a thing about it," said Angileri.
"Between sea level rise and the potential increase in storms, maintaining beaches is only going to be harder and more difficult," said Myers.
The city of Hallandale Beach obtained a permit from the state and the Army Corp of Engineers to put sand on that section of the beach, but city leaders must find the $6 million needed for the project.
In Fort Lauderdale, high tide and Superstorm Sandy collapsed portions of State Road A1A into the ocean and destroyed parts of the beach.
A National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study predicts that much of South Florida could be underwater by the year 2100.