Pinellas County is working on an emergency beach restoration project

Pinellas County wants to shore up beaches that were heavily eroded by Hurricane Idalia. But county officials say this is not intended to replace the stalled beach renourishment project.

The county is in the process of developing an emergency plan to protect shorelines that were most impacted by the hurricane. This could include reconstructing dunes or temporarily moving sand to areas that were washed away in the storm.

Pinellas spokesman Tony Fabrizio said they're going to focus on the hardest-hit areas, including Sunset Beach and Treasure Island.

"Those measures could include temporary erosion control structures and dunes," he said. "And the county is cautioning property owners and residents to not do their own work or hire a contractor. Some of these contractors have actually gone out and solicited work. Because this really requires in many cases federal, state and/or local permitting."

He said this is not intended to replace the proposed beach renourishment project, which is on hold as federal environmental regulators are requiring every beachfront land owner to sign a property easement.