ORLANDO, Fla. — Mountains of sticks, limbs and bagged debris strewn by blustery Hurricane Milton are piled in front of homes across Central Florida, and officials warn it could be weeks until it’s picked up.

Solid waste crews in Orlando began working as soon as roads were deemed safe and collected more than 120 tons of debris over the weekend. An official said they estimate there are about 80,000 cubic yards to collect throughout the city — enough to fill the beds of 32,000 full-size pickup trucks. The process could take more than a month.

Joe England, the solid waste assistant division manager, said they’ve supplemented their regular staff with help from the Streets and Stormwater and the Parks and Recreation departments to fill the trucks.

“We’re working seven days a week,” he said. “We’re not working on our traditional service schedules.”

Across the region, debris collection schedules and guidelines vary from city to city and county to county, and officials caution it could take contractors and crews multiple stops at your home to clean up the mess. Like Orlando, they say the process is likely to span weeks if not months.

Here is an overview from various agencies, but check the website of your waste hauler for the best information.

Orlando residents are asked to bag and bundle their yard waste to make it quicker for contractors and solid waste crews to collect debris. They also ask for debris to be placed at the curb, instead of in the street, away from sidewalks, storm drains, mailboxes, and fire hydrants.

To speed up collection, residents should separate items: limbs and bundled sticks in one pile, bags of leaves and other debris in a separate pile, England said.

In Orange County, storm debris from Hurricane Milton is estimated to total about 300,000 cubic yards. That total is about the same as left behind by Hurricane Ian, said Ralphetta Akers, manager of fiscal & operational support for Orange County Public Works, who oversees collections.

“Not as much as we’ve had in some past storms, but probably comparable to what we had after Ian,” she said of the September 2022 storm.

The county expects to begin curbside debris removal by Wednesday.

The county has hired contractors to assist in collection, and they will focus on piles too large to be picked up by the county’s regular curbside crews.

Resident of unincorporated Orange County should tie their debris in bundles three feet or less in length and weighing no more than 60 pounds. Fencing, roof shingles and other construction-like waste should be discarded in the green lid roll-cart containers, if possible.

Residents can also truck their debris themselves to one of three drop-off sites:

—Conway Water Treatment Plant, 3590 Manatee Street, Orlando

—Harrell Road, 8503 Trevarthon Road, Orlando

—Zellwood Maintenance Unit, 3500 Golden Gem Road, Apopka

Seminole County is asking its residents to have curbside debris ready by Oct. 21. Large amounts of debris don’t need to binned, bagged or bundled. However, officials ask for separate piles of vegetation and construction debris.

The county prefers that vegetative debris isn’t bagged, and says to consider combining with a neighbor’s mess to create larger piles for faster pickup.

Seminole residents can also bring their debris to the landfill at 1930 E. Osceola Road in Geneva.

In Osceola County, a contractor will scoop up debris in separate piles of vegetative and construction materials, its website states.

Osceola residents can dump off storm debris at:

—Bass Road Disposal Site, 750 S. Bass Road, Kissimmee

—Kenansville Drop-Off Station, 1130 S. Canoe Creek Road, Kenansville

—Canoe Creek Road across from Bramble Wood Drive and Kanuga Village

Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson said the city has opened a citizen drop-off site at the 180-acre Northwest Recreation Complex on Apply Lane.

Curbside residential pickup begins Thursday, he said.

In Winter Park, Waste Pro began debris pickup Saturday and will collect again on Wednesday and Saturday, Oct. 19. They’ll collect properly bagged, bundled and containerized debris not exceeding 50 pounds, and also up to 15 bags at a time.

Residents can also bring no more than 15 bags each to 1409 Howell Branch Road Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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