Elizabeth Bertrand of Montreal sat along Madeira Beach on Monday afternoon and watched the waves crash on what was left of the shore after Tropical Storm Debby washed much of it away.

She has been vacationing in the Tampa Bay area since 1981 and said she has never seen beach erosion this bad.

"I love the ocean," she said, "but not like this."

Debby's winds and waves pounded Pinellas County's 35 miles of beaches, combining with high tides to send water gushing across dunes and parking lots. Officials were still assessing the damage late Monday.

"Until the tide goes out, we don't know what's gone," explained Gulfport City Manager Jim O'Reilly. However, a preliminary review by geologists from the University of South Florida found severe erosion at Pass-a-Grille Beach, Upham Beach and on Treasure Island, according to Andy Squires of the county's coastal zone management office.

At Sunset Beach on Treasure Island, Squires said, from Caddy's on the Beach southward "erosion has cut an additional 10-15 feet into the existing dune at some locations."

Meanwhile, people weren't being allowed into the waters off Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin, said Jennifer Diaz, press secretary for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Honeymoon Island has suffered visible beach erosion, she said, but the extent of the damage will not be known until the storm is over.

Seeing water lapping at the sea oats instead of down below the dunes did not make the tourists happy. Jessica Akins, visiting from Asheville, N.C., sat on the stairs leading to Madeira Beach. Normally the end of the stairs would have been several feet from where the beach began, but Monday wasn't normal. Instead, gray waves crashed against the stairs, forcing her and her 4-year-old, Taylor, to move.

"I've never seen anything like this before," she said.

But Pinellas beaches have been battered by storms before. In 2006, Tropical Storm Alberto cut 40 feet off Indian Rocks Beach. The No Name Storm of 1993 washed away as much as 70 feet of Upham Beach.

Read more from the original source:

Debby's waves wash away some beaches, leaving tourists amazed