Dania Beach gets $1.3M for debris removal

Reimbursement from FEMA covers damage left by Hurricane Irma

Two and a half years after Hurricane Irma hit Florida, Dania Beach is getting $1.3 million to cover the cost of debris removal.

The money is a reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

For the month after the storm in September 2017, city workers and contractors gathered and hauled away 84,603 cubic yards of vegetative debris and 10,107 cubic yards of construction and demolition debris.

Workers also hauled 84,704 cubic yards of vegetative and construction and demolition debris to a temporary staging site from public property and rights of way.

The debris was brought to a landfill for destruction.

“We have been in contact with our legislators at the federal level as well as state agencies seeking our monies, this past year we had a good feeling we were going to receive [it],” City Manager Ana Garcia said. “We have been very proactive and have outstanding relationships, we believe the aforementioned was instrumental.”

The reimbursement is the latest in a growing number of financial awards to cities related to debris removal costs.

Last year, FEMA reimbursed municipalities over $25 million for these expenses, including $1.3 million to Deerfield Beach, $3.7 million to Miramar and $2.6 million to Pompano Beach, among other awards.

Dania Beach also received $1.8 million from FEMA last year for costs related to making its city hall building — which also serves as the city’s emergency operations center — safer, including installing impact doors and windows, a back-up generator and wind-resistant vents and fans.