FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — What began as a peaceful afternoon turned into chaos when a dredge pipe unexpectedly burst near the shoreline, sending water shooting into the air and beachgoers scrambling for safety.
Watch as Fort Myers Beach community correspondent Anvar Ruziev visits the site where the pipe burst:
Mike Case, who was enjoying the day with his family, captured video of water bubbling up from the sand.
“The water just started bubbling up and it comes up like a foot out of the ground,” Case said. The pipe is part of the Fort Myers Beach renourishment project, which pumps sand from offshore dredges onto the beach. Case said he didn’t hear any explosion or warning—just commotion from others nearby.
“It was sort of chaos for a while because we didn’t know what it was,” Case said. “I said, ‘Hey, you gotta move your stuff, this water is coming your way."
As a hole formed in the sand, it began to shift and collapse, resembling something more dangerous.
“It almost looked like quicksand,” Case said. “It was just sloshing back and forth like it was fixing to erupt.”Town officials later confirmed that the wet sand can behave like quicksand and urged people to steer clear of the area.
“Wet sand looks like quicksand and quicksand looks like wet sand,” said Environmental Project Manager Chadd Chustz. “You can sink pretty deep pretty quick.”
Officials haven’t confirmed what caused the pipe to rupture. Crews are on site making repairs, and a contractor onsite tells FOX 4 they expect the work to be finished by Friday.
