Extensive hurricane debris cleanup underway in St. Augustine
On Friday and into the weekend, many people in St. Augustine will be cleaning up from the damage Hurricane Ian caused.
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The clean-up began in the Davis Shores neighborhood.
“Historically, we know it is hard hit so we’re going to start in those hard-hit areas,” said Melissa Wissel, spokesperson for the City of St. Augustine.
Waste management crews hanging out of garbage trucks picked up 62 tons of yard debris on Thursday alone, and they’re far from done.
“They will do multiple passes,” Wissel said.
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Right now, city crews are working in tandem with contractors DRC Emergency Services to get to every piece of vegetation and scoop up every trash bag.
“Nobody wants to see that every time they drive down the road,” Wissel acknowledged.
But they need your help in order to expedite these efforts.
For instance, don’t place your debris on top of a storm drain because that could cause a major blockage.
Also, don’t cause blockage on streets by parking cars on the road. Remember that these large trucks carrying machinery like backhoes need room to navigate and get your debris out quickly.
“It affects the entire neighborhood,” Wissel emphasized.
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“[Parking on the street] hurts with the navigation of the traffic,” neighbor David Slemp said. “Just help [the clean-up crews] out.”
Slemp knows the drill, because he’s been through this before.
“Matthew was a different story. This one wasn’t as bad,” he pointed out.
“Just try to get [debris] organized and out front,” Slemp added.
Organize piles for yard debris, construction debris, and household goods.
You can still put your trash out because crews are still picking that up as usual.
But hold off the recycling. Pickup for that is paused for now. However, you can drop off your recycling at the following designated sites:
601 Riberia Street — end of Riberia by Solid Waste Department and Waste Water Plant.
North City — by the Las Palmas condos on San Marco.
Red Cox Drive by the Soccer Field, behind RB Hunt Elementary School
All these steps are to make sure this clean-up process can be carried out quickly.
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“There’s a lot of work to do,” Slemp noted. “And if we all work together and do our part, it will help everybody for sure.”
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