Seawall Collapse: What to Do in the First 48 Hours

The short answer

If part of your seawall has collapsed or is moving, the first job is safety: keep people, pets and vehicles away from the edge, shut off power to any dock if you can do it safely, and do not stand on the cap or near a fresh sinkhole. Then document everything with photos and video, call your homeowner's insurer to report it, and call your city building department to ask what permits an emergency stabilization needs. Get the wall assessed on site and a licensed marine contractor lined up to stabilize it. Do not start digging or pouring until you know what the permits require.

Hour 0 to 2: make it safe

• Keep everyone back. Soil behind a failed wall can keep caving for days. A void can be larger than the hole you see. Rope off or flag the area if you can.
• Electricity. Dock lifts, lights and outlets near the water can be dangerous after a collapse. Shut off dock power at the breaker if it is safe to reach. If the electrical service itself is damaged, call your utility.
• Boats. If a boat is on a lift or moored against the damaged section, and you can safely move it, do. Otherwise leave it and tell the contractor.
• Remove load. Move cars, equipment, furniture and anything heavy away from the edge.
• Neighbors. Tell the neighbors on either side. A failure can travel along the wall, and their walls may be affected.
• Danger to life. If anyone is hurt or a structure is at risk of falling, call 911.

Hour 2 to 12: document it

• Take wide photos and video from the yard and, if safe, from the water, showing the failed section and the walls on either side.
• Take close photos of broken panels, the cap, tie rods, sinkholes and any soil in the canal, with a tape measure in the frame.
• Photograph the date and the tide stage. Note when you first noticed the failure and any recent storm or king tide.
• Keep earlier photos of the wall if you have them. Inspections and old listing photos help show prior condition.
• Do not throw away broken pieces until the insurer and the contractor have seen them.

Hour 12 to 24: call the right people

Hour 24 to 48: stabilize, then plan the real repair

Temporary stabilization is about stopping further soil loss and movement until the permanent repair is designed. Depending on the failure, that can mean placing turbidity barriers in the water, backfilling or covering the void, temporary bracing, or placing rip-rap at the toe. Each of those touches the water or the wall, so do them through a licensed contractor who knows what the county and city allow.

There are some permit tools for restoration work. Florida law exempts from state permits the restoration of a seawall at its previous location, upland of it, or within 18 inches waterward, but the exemption does not relieve county or municipal requirements (Florida Statutes 403.813). Broward's general license covers repair or restoration of existing functional seawalls no more than 1 foot waterward and limerock rip-rap placed no steeper than 2 horizontal to 1 vertical and not over seagrass (Broward County general license). After major storms, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection sometimes issues emergency final orders that ease state permitting for a set period in declared counties (Florida DEP). Those orders are tied to specific events, so check whether one is in effect.

What not to do

• Do not stand on a cracked cap or the edge of a sinkhole.
• Do not pour concrete or dump fill into the canal or the void without a plan and the right permits.
• Do not hire someone who shows up uninvited after a storm without checking their license on the state's license lookup (Florida DBPR).
• Do not sign a contract on the spot. Get the scope in writing and compare.
• Do not ignore neighboring walls. If your wall failed from age or a storm, theirs may be next, and the codes look at tidal water flowing onto neighbors.

The permanent repair and the height rule

A collapse usually means a lot of wall needs work. In Fort Lauderdale, if the repair covers more than 50 percent of the shoreline length or costs more than 50 percent of a new wall, it is a substantial repair, and the whole wall has to be brought to the minimum elevation (Fort Lauderdale Ord. C-23-05). Plan the permanent repair with that in mind. See the height ordinance, panel and tieback failure and seawall replacement.

What it may cost

Emergency costs depend on how much failed. For a sense of scale, a Fort Lauderdale cost guide publishes full replacement at $350 to $1,200 per linear foot, or roughly $40,000 to $120,000 for a typical residential wall (Waterfront Repair FL), and one contractor publishes engineering at $2,000 to $5,000 and permits at $800 to $3,000 (JKT Marine). See the Fort Lauderdale cost guide.

Warning signs that often come before a collapse

Most seawalls give warning before they fail, and the same signs tell you whether the walls next to a failed section are at risk. Watch for a cap line that has started to wave or lean toward the water, a gap opening between the cap and the yard, horizontal cracks across the middle of panels, joints that have opened with sand piling up at their base, and sinkholes or soft ground within a few feet of the wall. A wall showing several of these together, especially after heavy rain or a run of king tides, is worth an assessment before it moves further. Our signs of seawall failure guide ranks them by urgency, and panel and tieback failure explains what is usually happening behind the wall. If your neighbor's wall has already failed, have yours looked at too, since walls of the same age often share the same problems.

What a stabilization plan usually covers

• The length of wall that has failed and the length that is at risk on either side.
• How soil and debris in the water will be contained and removed.
• Whether the failed section will be braced, backfilled or protected at the toe in the short term.
• How equipment will reach the wall: from the yard, from a neighbor's yard, or from a barge.
• Which permits or approvals the temporary work needs, and which the permanent repair needs.
• How the temporary work fits with the permanent repair, so nothing has to be torn out twice.

Questions to ask the contractor

• What is your Florida license number? Check it on the state license lookup before you sign.
• What will you do this week, and what will the permanent repair involve?
• Which permits will you pull, and how long do they usually take in this city?
• Will the permanent repair be a substantial repair under the height rule?
• Can you price the temporary work and the permanent work as separate line items?
• Who prepares the engineering, and is it in the price?

Talking to your insurer

Report the damage promptly, even if you expect the seawall itself to be excluded. Ask whether the policy covers damage the collapse caused to other property, such as a pool deck, a patio, landscaping or the house, and ask what documentation the insurer wants. Keep copies of every photo, invoice and report. Flood policies under the NFIP exclude seawalls, bulkheads, docks and piers (FEMA FloodSmart), so do not assume a flood claim will pay for the wall.

After the first 48 hours

Once the site is stable, the work becomes a normal, if urgent, repair project: an engineer's design, a city building permit, a Broward County license for work in county waters (Broward 311), then construction and a final inspection. Keep checking the stabilized area after rain and high tides, keep the edge flagged, and tell the contractor right away if anything moves.

Local rules and contacts: Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Hollywood, Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Pompano Beach and Lighthouse Point.