St. Petersburg faces 'significant' debris cleanup time after Milton

Colleen Wright, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 10, 2024

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said Thursday evening that debris piles from flooded houses becaue of Hurricane Helene two weeks ago “did not significantly add to the problem.”

The problem, he said, was that hundreds of trees fell down during Hurricane Milton’s high-speed winds overnight Wednesday, reportedly topping 100 miles per hour. Those trees took many power lines with them, some of which were active, and also caused 30 water line breaks.

Drinking water has been restored, but residents are under a boil water notice. Residents should boil water to drink or brush teeth, but it is safe to shower in.

Welch said there were three overnight fires while first responders were not able to answer calls.

Citywide debris pickup will resume once streets are cleared and safe. The city’s community enrichment administrator, Mike Jefferis, who oversees parks and recreation as well as storm and debris pickup, said all main streets have been cleared of any trees that are not entangled with Duke Energy power lines. Beginning Friday, Jefferis said, the city will focus on clearing secondary streets. He urged residents to report fallen trees on the city’s SeeClickFix website, though it is not necessary, as the city is doing multiple sweeps of each neighborhood.

“We will get it,” he said.

As for mounds of debris piled high in front of hundreds of flooded homes from Helene, Jefferis said: “We’re happy to report it seems to be in the same piles as you left it.”

As residents clean up their own properties, Jefferis urged residents to separate their debris. Downed branches, leaves and trees should be separated from construction and demolition debris, and also from waterlogged furniture and appliances. The city cannot pickup any debris that is bagged, as debris pickup is tracked for reimbursement from FEMA.

Jefferis said 10,000 homes citywide were flooded from Helene, and and the city has support form the national guard, and from the county state and federal governments.

“It will take us a significant amount of time to clear the debris from our city,” he said.

Neighborhood and housing affairs administrator Amy Foster, who oversees sanitation, said brush sites will be open for normal hours on Friday. The Lake Maggiore site, however, is not open because of flooding and a downed power line on 26th Avenue S.

Foster said the city’s incinerator and recycling plant are undergoing damage assessment, but that commercial solid waste will be collected Friday, and if possible, also on Saturday, pending an update on collections Friday. She said many streets and alleys are “completely impassable” and that contractors and crane trucks were assisting city teams.

The city will reopen the Raytheon debris management site at 1953 72nd St. N from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday for residents who have transportation and wish to dispose of their own vegetative or construction or demolition debris.

Welch asked people to stay off streets, especially as 100 traffic signals are still down throughout the city. Those who must drive should treat intersections with downed traffic signals as a four-way stop.

Welch said roads have been closed off around where a crane from the Residences at 400 Central construction site fell. First avenues N and S are closed, as are Third and Fifth streets.

The city’s public works administrator, Claude Tankersley, said the storm pulled water out of the bay. He said there were no reports of dumps or sewage spills.

“We actually got lucky,” he said.

City administrator Rob Gerdes said the city did see 18 inches of flooding, and there’s a possibility some homes are flooded. He said the city on Friday will begin assessments on how many homes flooded from that rain.

Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Baker said 70% of Pinellas county, about 405,000 customers, remains without power. Of those, 141,000 customers are without power in St. Petersburg.

Baker said of the 16,000 lineman brought in by Duke from as far away as Canada, 5,000 are housed in Pinellas County.

He said crews are assessing damage and prioritizing health care facilities. He said some customers could get power back as soon as Thursday or Friday, but that there could be some outages that last for a week or longer, and that Duke is working on more accurate estimated times of restoration.

“This will be a lengthy restoration,” he said.