Debris from Helene remains on Tampa Bay doorsteps as Hurricane Milton approaches

ST. PETERSBURG — Refrigerators, couches, dressers, bookshelves and desk chairs are among the destroyed possessions found piled high in the front yards of almost every single home in Shore Acres.

“It’s like you’re driving through a canyon of people’s lives on the curb,” said Kevin Batdorf, president of the neighborhood association where 82% of the 2,642 homes fell victim to Hurricane Helene’s historic storm surge less than two weeks ago.

Shore Acres and other low-lying areas in Tampa Bay are now bracing for double the storm surge with Hurricane Milton’s expected arrival Wednesday night. With Tampa Bay in its crosshairs, Milton comes with a new threat: Downed tree branches, waterlogged furniture and appliances, construction and demolition debris from Hurricane Helene could become millions of potential projectiles.

Local governments in Tampa Bay contract with debris removal companies so they can be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But with tens of thousands of Tampa Bay homes damaged after Helene, including 10,000 in St. Petersburg alone, local governments won’t be able to pick up all of the curbside debris before Milton’s arrival.

Officials around Tampa Bay on Monday advised residents who have not placed all of their damaged belongings on the curb to leave them inside their homes. They pushed a message Monday that debris pickup is secondary, and that residents and their families should prioritize safety and leaving if they are under evacuation.

“I can assure you that our community, our partners, our state, county crews, we are doing everything we can to remove as much debris from our community,” said Pinellas County spokesperson Barbra Hernandez, who said the county approved additional crews to pick up the millions of cubic yards of waste Helene left behind. “But realistically, we know that that will not be complete by the time that Milton gets here.”

The state of Florida took over Pinellas County’s landfill site, breaking a second gate overnight Monday to gain access so additional debris could be dumped.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the Florida Department of Transportation ordered this week that debris be picked up and relocated to the Pinellas County landfill. Because the landfill was getting full, truckloads of debris are also being taken to the Florida State Fairgrounds in Hillsborough County.

Gualtieri didn’t know how many truckloads of debris have been taken to the fairgrounds but thought that there were “a lot.” Pinellas deputies, along with the Florida Highway Patrol and other agencies, have been escorting more dump trucks to drop the debris at both locations since Sunday, Gualtieri said. The order came from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Gualtieri believes, and the sheriff supports the move.

“Every piece of debris they remove from the neighborhoods helps reduce the threat during Milton,” Gualtieri said. He said the debris relocation will last until Tuesday night or Wednesday, depending on when the storm is projected to arrive.

A spokesperson for Hillsborough County said more than 10,000 cubic yards of storm debris have been collected since Hurricane Helene. Crews from multiple departments assessed the damage, and pickup began two days after the storm passed.

Hillsborough is using resources from several departments and contractors to pick up as much debris as possible before Hurricane Milton hits. County officials are coordinating with local and state officials and have submitted resource requests for additional equipment, along with access to additional debris disposal sites.

Tampa spokesperson Adam Smith said the city had about five trucks from a contractor picking up debris. Even with all of the city’s resources, he estimated that picking up all of the debris would have taken at least a couple of weeks. The city hired private contractors to help.

“We’ve called in the cavalry,” Smith said. “We’ve been working constantly to clean it all up.”

St. Petersburg’s community enrichment administrator, Mike Jefferis, who in addition to parks and recreation oversees post-storm debris removal, advised residents to use tarps or netting to secure debris. He said the city created a new program where 100 hauling businesses can get paid $200 per trip to haul debris to a collection site near Raytheon. Residents and private haulers can also take and unload their debris to a site at 1953 72nd St. N.

Batdorf, the Shore Acres Civic Association president, said he has only seen one pickup truck clearing out piles of debris in his neighborhood. Jefferis disagrees, though he could not say where those trucks were deployed or how much has been collected since debris removal began Wednesday.

“I want everybody to realize that we’re trying to get months’ worth of debris removed in less than a week,” Jefferis said. “Because we’re so focused on that, and we’ve contacted all of our resources, assets, all of our partners are working with us, we’re not tracking it like we normally do. I can’t tell you exactly how much we’ve collected.”

Times staff writer Olivia George contributed to this report.

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