MOBILE, Ala. -- A FEMA official said Thursday that Dauphin Island could seek federal funds for a sand berm to replace the $3.6 million one washed away by Hurricane Gustav, but there's been no decision on its design or cost.

FEMA will meet Friday with island officials in a planning session.

The 10-foot-high berm ran along three miles of Gulf beachfront on the island's west end and protected scores of resort homes, now left vulnerable to the Gulf surf. It was built in 2005 to replace a $1 million berm that was washed away by Tropical Storm Isidore in 2002. That 14,000-foot berm had been built as an emergency project initiated after Hurricane Georges in 1998.

Mike Moore, FEMA's disaster coordinator for Alabama, said the agency is in the process of approving some funds for storm repairs to the island, including about $3.6 million to remove and recover sand from the public right of way. Gustav covered the west end's roads with several feet of sand.

But Moore stressed that the sand removal cost does not cover an "emergency berm," and it's only a coincidence that the sand disposal cost - $3.6 million- equals that of the washed-away berm.

He said island officials have until Nov. 6 to apply for Gustav funds, and Nov. 23 to file for Hurricane Ike losses. It's a 75-25 cost-sharing formula, with the federal government paying the higher share.

Erosion claims up to 10 feet per year in some areas of the island's shoreline.

Island officials on Thursday were focused on erosion solutions for the more populated and forested east end, which receives less damage from storms.

An engineering firm, WRScompass, estimates that approximately 10,200 feet of beach on the east end would require nourishment as part of restoration activities, costing between $11.5 million and $12.8 million.

Mayor Jeff Collier said the island would need local, state, and federal funding for such a project.

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