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'I'm trying to be patient': Hillsborough County residents wait for debris left collection

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Published  October 15, 2024 4:51pm EDT
Hurricane Milton
FOX 13 News

Debris removal process continues after Milton

Evan Axelbank reports

Tampa, Fla. - The effort to pick up all of Tampa's hurricane debris will not be complete until they reach Byron Jones' house in West Tampa.

"I'm wondering when they're going to get out and kind of start picking it up," Jones said. "I know they have a lot of stuff they have to get to. I'm trying to be patient."

READ MORE: Withlacoochee River levels continue rising in Hernando County, prompting evacuations 

Tampa crews have only picked up 60,000 cubic yards of storm-related debris from an expected one million cubic yards that the city will eventually collect.

Tampa crews hope to remove all debris within 90 days and gain reimbursement from FEMA.

Hillsborough County expects to gather 5 million cubic yards in total. To put how much debris is in perspective, it is enough to fill Tropicana Field.

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Debris built up on the side of the road in Hillsborough County left by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Josh Bellotti of Hillsborough County Public Works says it is in the county’s best interests to collect storm debris as quickly as possible.

"We don't want debris in our roadways preventing traffic," said Bellotti. "We don't want debris into our stormwater system preventing stormwater drainage. So it's it's in our best interest." 

Bellotti said, "It's in the community's interest to get this cleaned up as soon as we can."

READ MORE: Hurricane Milton caused over $351M in property damage in Manatee County

Hillsborough County allows residents to bring debris to collection sites like many local governments.

It can also be put out for regular garbage pickup if there's a small amount of debris.

If not, it has to wait for their debris haulers.

Pinellas County estimates they have about a million cubic yards of debris to collect, enough to fill 60,000 dump trucks.

That's why, in general, it will take so long.

"It's a huge effort, and we're going to stay on it with all of our resources dedicated to it until all of it is picked up," said Bellotti.

READ MORE: Feeding Tampa Bay providing free meals to victims of Hurricane Milton

Hillsborough County says debris brought to its collection centers will have to be either turned into mulch or disposed of at its main landfills.

Jones’ neighbor, Tom Wilson, says he is willing to be patient.

"I feel like Tampa got lucky," said Wilson. "And look at what happened. It could have been a lot worse." 

Wilson continued, "So definitely, people are not going to forget this one, and we got to clean up quick before the next one happens."

The difference between the debris created by the two hurricanes in the Tampa Bay region is stark. Hillsborough County says Helene created roughly 18,000 cubic yards of debris, while the county estimates that Hurricane Milton created almost 5 million.

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