DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (WKRG) – The 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season is officially over and the impact from the 2021 hurricane season in our coastal communities has been minimal.

Dauphin Island saw moderate damage from Hurricane Ida, but overall, officials say it could have been a lot worse.

“This year was certainly a better year. We would prefer to have no impacts but unfortunately, we did have some minor impacts,” says Jeff Collier, mayor of Dauphin Island.

It’s been over three months since Hurricane Ida damaged parts of the Gulf Coast. Compared to last year’s storms like Hurricane Sally and Zeta the damage on Dauphin Island was minimal.

“We did have some effects from Ida this year which we are still doing some clean up on the west end. We still have some sand we’re moving in that case. But people coming here, they’ll see Dauphin Island as how they remember it and that’s a good thing,” says Collier.

The seasonably warm winter is bringing in more visitors in addition to the mild hurricane season.

“The continued warmth obviously makes beaches more attractive. We’re also getting our snowbird crowds as we usually do so Dauphin Island is just an attractive place for people to visit and live and we’re seeing that day in and day out and so we’re just glad to be able to host folks and have fun,” says Collier.