Martin County streets hit by tornadoes all look eerily similar, with furniture and vegetation debris thrown into piles on the curb.
Bob Burden, who lives in the Preserve of Hobe Sound in Martin County, continues to clean up from last week's storm.
“We mostly just bring things out to the curb,” Burden said. “Everybody else takes care of the rest.”
Jim Gorton, Martin County public works director, told WPTV Reporter Tyler Hatfield that separating vegetative, construction and hazardous waste debris will expedite the cleanup.
“If we can keep those all separate,” said Gorton. “It makes the collection process go a lot faster.”
Martin County has four crews on collection duty and is looking to add 12 more for a cleanup that could take 45 days.
St. Lucie County Communications Director, Erick Gill, said cleanup could take until December.
“It's going to take some time to get this debris off the road,” said Gill. “We're going to have crews go through at least two different sweeps through neighborhoods.”
Gill said these sweeps will need to clean up 90,000 cubic yards around the county.
“We have the county, outside of city limits, divided into the 15 zones, and we will have 10 trucks working for the next two months, 11-hour days through those zones to pick that debris up,” said Gill.
Indian River County, along with Martin and St. Lucie, is also asking residents for the same cooperation.
“Folks need to just remain patient,” said Himanshu Mehta, Managing Director of the Solid Waste Disposal District for Indian River County. “We are here to help. Our facilities are open. Everybody's working as hard as they can to help in this effort.”
