Irma debris in Manatee could be gone by year’s end

Debris from Hurricane Irma might be completely removed from the streets of Manatee County by the end of the year.

Officials said Tuesday that the debris removal process is about 76 percent complete, almost two months after the storm ravaged the area on Sept. 10-11. Contractors have picked up 382,000 cubic yards of debris so far in the county.

In the city of Bradenton, 82,140 cubic yards have been collected. City officials had originally expected a two-month cleanup following Irma, but they are now at the halfway point, spokesman Tim McCann said Tuesday.

Amy Pilson, public affairs liaison for the Manatee County Utilities Department, said she previously thought the debris removal process would carry on into 2018, but there’s a chance it could be done sooner, thanks to the progress they’ve already made.

“With us being that far done, we anticipate getting it done before the new year,” Pilson said. “However, our resources are still fluctuating so it’s hard to say.”

Pilson said they’ve run into a few issues with the trucks and it’s impossible to say whether the contractors can keep up the pace that they’ve been working.

Last month, the county set a deadline for residents to place their Irma debris to the curb by Oct. 30. The deadline helped, Pilson said, but people are still placing debris at the street. If Irma trucks have already been through your neighborhood, other debris must be bagged, canned or bundled because it will only be picked up by the county’s yard waste collection on Wednesdays.

The county is steadily updating the debris pickup map to let residents know when contractors have marked their area as complete, Pilson said.

In the city of Bradenton, 4,269 individual piles of debris had been collected as of Nov. 2, city officials said Tuesday. The first pass has been completed in Wards 1-4 and the first pass of Ward 5 is continuing. The city’s staff and trucks are helping the contractor, Ashbrit, by compiling some of the smaller debris piles, and the second pass is beginning throughout the city.

City officials hope to get caught up with Bradenton’s normal yard waste pickup schedule by mid-November.

This story was originally published November 7, 2017 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Irma debris in Manatee could be gone by year’s end."