S. Florida Irma debris almost gone

FEMA to get $200M bill; Dade’s haul alone would stretch to Tucson, Ariz.

After three months, South Florida is just about finished cleaning up the mess Hurricane Irma left.

Cities are making the final passes through neighborhoods, picking up the last piles of debris from the storm that struck South Florida Sept. 10.

Fears abounded shortly after Irma hit that debris piles could linger for as long as six months. The massive number of trees downed by Irma and Hurricane Harvey in Texas caused a labor shortage for cities.

Rotting and smelly rubbish prompted angry letters to elected officials, and health officials expressed concerns that piles could harbor rodents and vermin if left too long.

Miami-Dade County should have its collection effort completed within 10 days. The city of Hollywood expects to finish its efforts this weekend.

“It was a complicated cleanup,” said Joann Hussey, a Hollywood spokeswoman. “Because of our mature tree canopy, we were really hard hit. We are glad the light is at the end of the tunnel.”

Other cities finished weeks ago, and local governments will now submit their bills for reimbursement to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The tab for South Florida’s debris removal efforts will likely exceed $200 million. After Hurricane Wilma in 2005, FEMA paid out $956.3 million to Florida and its local governments for debris removal and other emergency measures.

Miami-Dade County Solid Waste Management collected nearly 4 million cubic yards of debris, enough trash to make a yard-wide, yardhigh path of garbage from South Florida to Tucson, Ariz.

Miami-Dade’s debris collection efforts are estimated to cost $179 million, said Gayle Love, a county spokeswoman.

The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County wrapped up its efforts on Nov. 12, collecting nearly 3 million cubic yards of vegetation at an estimated cost of nearly $25 million, said spokesman Willie Puz.

Initially, the county estimated it would take as long as three months to haul away the debris, but it finished in two months, he said.

Puz said the county operated more collection sites than it did for previous storms, which expedited the efforts.

“They were able to handle more loads per day,” he said.

Fort Lauderdale finished in early November, hauling away 450,000 cubic yards of debris at an estimated cost of $10 million, said Monique Damiano, a city spokeswoman. Pompano Beach also finished its pick up in early November, hauling away nearly 200,000 cubic yards at a cost of $3.5 million, according to city staff.

Most of the debris was turned into mulch, while some of the vegetation not contaminated with other debris was burned.

It could take months if not years for federal funds to arrive to offset the cleanup costs.

But city and county officials say they don’t expect rate increases. Pembroke Pines Assistant City Manager Aner Gonzalez said his city had stockpiled reserves to cover the costs until reimbursement arrives.

FEMA will reimburse local governments for 90 percent of collection costs for the first 30 days after the storm, agency spokesman John Mills said. Debris collected after that date is reimbursed at 75 percent.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office launched an investigation into allegations that waste haulers took advantage of the storm to jack up rates charged to cities.

The demand for haulers created a bidding war with cities offering higher rates for faster service.

That investigation continues, Whitney Ray, a Bondi spokesman, said this week.

The debris costs will only add to a hefty disaster relief bill for the federal government. In October, FEMA chief Brock Long told lawmakers the federal government is spending $200 million a day on recovery efforts for hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and wildfires in California.

The federal government has distributed more than $2 billion in flood insurance claims, disaster aid and disaster loans in Florida. More than $1 billion in federal emergency food aid was handed out through the food stamp program.

South Florida’s last disaster recovery center will close on Wednesday.

MIKE STOCKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Hollywood sanitation code compliance officer Lawrence Pedrosa oversees the removal of Irma debris.

MIKE STOCKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Hollywood city workers remove Hurricane Irma debris across from the Hollywood Marina. The city expects to finish removal of all debris from the hurricane this weekend.