Tampa Bay area crews working around the clock to haul debris from Hurricanes Helene, Milton

Hurricane debris removal update

Kylie Jones reports

TAMPA, Fla. - Hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of debris from Hurricanes Helene and Milton have been hauled away across the Tampa Bay area. Many debris crews across the region are working seven days a week to get the debris cleared.

"This is an unprecedented impact on our county, on our communities," Pinellas County public information officer David Connor said.

In Pinellas County, as of Monday evening, debris hauling crews have picked up more than 53,000 cubic yards of debris from unincorporated areas. You can find more information about debris removal and a dashboard with updates here.

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In Hillsborough County, officials said crews are clearing 60,000 cubic yards of debris a day.

"We have an estimated amount of debris that could fill up Tropicana Field one and a half times," Hillsborough's Engineering and Operations Director Josh Bellotti said.

You can find more information about Hillsborough County's debris removal, drop off sites and a debris tracking map here.

The city of St. Petersburg said more than 100 trucks have helped clear more than 100,000 cubic yards of debris. St. Pete officials said you can find a debris removal dashboard with updates and information here.

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In Tampa, city officials said their crews have also cleared more than 100,000 cubic yards of debris.

"Give an example, Hurricane Irma was 175,000, so we’ll be close to that," said Stephen Swan, Tampa's Solid Waste Department chief of operations. "We’re expecting probably close to a million cubic yards, if not more."

Debris hauling crews across the region have prioritized the hardest hit areas.

"The vegetative debris was sort of the secondary," Swan said. "We’re now sort of splitting it, because we have all the equipment to do it. But we started out with C and D, household debris that was lost, first."

You can find information about Tampa's debris removal, drop off sites and a debris clearing map here.

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In Treasure Island, the city said it’s cleared almost 35,000 cubic yards of debris. City officials said FEMA considers condominiums commercial property, so they’re expected to have insurance covering debris removal.

However, the city said it is going through the process to get approval to help with those properties. City officials said FEMA may allow local or state governments to remove debris from private and commercial properties, only if FEMA’s federal coordinating officer determines the removal is in the public's best interest.

You can find updates on Treasure Island debris removal here.

Municipalities across the Tampa Bay area are asking residents to separate their debris into piles for vegetative debris, household debris and large appliances. Officials are also asking people not to put their debris in the middle of the roadways or in plastic bags.

"A lot of the machinery that they use to process the debris, think of a wood chipper for a tree, it’ll get tangled up on plastic bags," Connor said.

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Cities and counties around the Tampa Bay area said they’ve made progress in clearing the debris. They’re working to get all the debris cleared within 90 days, in order to get the full cost reimbursement from FEMA.

"It’s going to take some time," Connor said. "It is going to take weeks. It might take a month or two, but we are going to get all that debris out."

The municipalities said debris haulers will make a first pass through areas, but will likely come back for additional debris. Hillsborough County said it hopes crews will finish their first sweeps within 30 days.

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