Throughout Florida, people are still awaiting debris collection and have encountered health risks and traffic issues as a result of the delays.
In Alachua County, 80-year-old Connie Smith took matters into her own hands after she noticed her letter carrier struggling to reach her mailbox.
“Our mail person loves to be able to drive right here and up to the mailbox without having to get out,” she said. “So, I’m just getting it (debris) moved back a little bit.”
Smith often pushes the debris back from her mailbox when strong winds shift the pile toward the road.
“I count it as exercise,” she said.
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward said the debris cleanup process began right after Hurricane Helene, but because Gainesville was hit by a second hurricane, it is taking longer. Ward said he hopes to have the city cleaned by Thanksgiving.
“There are neighborhoods I drove through the day after Helene that you couldn't even tell a storm that came through, the place just had a little rain," Ward said. "And there were parts of Gainesville, rich and poor, that you look at and wonder how we'll ever be able to clean them up."
Rossana Passaniti, Gainesville’s public information officer, said so far about 25,000 cubic yards, or 1,250 standard truckloads of debris, have been removed from Gainesville, and about 35,000 cubic yards to go.
Valerie Austin, a retired history professor who has lived in Gainesville for nearly 30 years, has struggled with moving debris while undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
“I don't have the energy to go back and move everything,” Austin said. “It was hard enough to get help to move everything out to the road.”
Austin noticed the debris still lining the streets has been damaging her car.
“I've had my car scratched several times trying to avoid being hit by another car,” she said. “We're both as far over as we can get, but the debris piles are hitting your car.”
Ward said that two companies contracted for debris pickup in Gainesville are GFL Environmental and Ceres Environmental. Gainesville also works with several subcontracted companies, both local and from outside the area.
Ward also said he allocated $5 million from the city's cash reserves to fund the debris cleanup. FEMA is expected to reimburse the city, but it may take a while to receive.
“Five million dollars is a lot of money, but it is not outside our ability to pay, especially knowing that FEMA will reimburse it,” Ward said.
Gaston Tree Debris Recycling is another company in Gainesville cleaning up debris. Gaston is contracted to work with about 10 counties, ranging from Pinellas County to areas north of Lafayette.
Bill Gaston, owner of Gaston Tree Debris Recycling, said he began the debris cleanup process around the beginning of October. His team has been working 12-hour days for about 30 days.
“They're giddy upping,” Gaston said. “Doing it as fast as they can.”
The first steps Gaston took after the hurricane hit Gainesville was to clear roads to ensure access to schools, hospitals and police stations. Once access was restored, residents began bringing debris to the curb for Gaston and his team to collect. The debris pick-up is broken down into zones, which the project manager determines.
“We go from zone to zone, and when the zones are cleaned up, we move to the next one,” Gaston said. “We will just keep moving into the zones until it's all cleaned up.”
After a hurricane, clearing roads to the hospital becomes a top priority. Gaston said the goal for the rest of the city is to deploy trucks to every zone. Heavily impacted areas may have two or three trucks assigned, while lighter-hit zones might only need one.
Austin, the Gainesville resident, said she was worried that neighborhood had not been serviced because it’s a low-density area.
“Other neighborhoods would have literally 25 houses on a lot, this size, and so you're getting rid of yard debris for 25 people who are likely to complain,” Austin said. “Well, when you have really big lots, it's different.”
Ward said the storm damage from Helene was much worse than Milton and Debbie. Helene's impact on trees was extensive.
“This is worse than Irma, which was the previous worst,” Ward said. “Irma was in ‘17, and that, previously, was the high watermark. Helene was worse.”
Gaston said that he is strictly picking up vegetative debris, which consists of trees and tree limbs that have been brought to the curb.
Gainesville had less wind than other areas of the state, creating less debris, Gaston said. There was much more vegetative debris in Pinellas and Hillsborough County than in Gainesville. He and his team are still assisting with cleanup efforts in Lafayette, Suwannee and Hamilton counties.
“They were hit pretty hard as well,” Gaston said. “There's about 2.5 to 3 million cubic yards up in the north part of our state.”
John Brandt, 61, who lives on Northwest 15th Avenue, is the medical director of Tri-County Internal Medicine and Family Practice. He said he only had a small pile of debris compared to those in other areas of the state, where the damage was much worse.
“I'm sure a lot of people are working really hard all across the South to clean up a giant mess,” he said.
Gaston said that his teams pick about 3,000 yards of debris a day. The debris is dropped off at debris management sites around the county. There is one site off Williston Road, close to Interstate 75, and another on State Road 121, north of the highway patrol station.
Other ways the debris is disposed of is through burning or turning it into mulch. The mulch is then used for agricultural and landscaping purposes.
Alex Fox-Alvarez, 37, a veterinary surgeon who lives on Northwest 18th Avenue, said he got rid of some of his debris by burning the branches. Alvarez also said he noticed some bugs and snakes living in his debris.
Austin noted that, in addition to the storm debris, her regular weekly debris hadn’t been collected in several weeks.
“I was putting cans out, but then eventually, your cans are just sitting there, unpicked up for weeks at a time,” Austin said. “So, you just dump them in the bigger pile and take the cans back down.”
Ward said people are becoming frustrated over the lengthy debris removal process.
“It's easy to be reminded that every time you walk out your door, that there's still stuff there,” Ward said. “So that is a predictable frustration.”
Ward suggested that for future hurricane seasons, Gainesville should hold educational sessions and discussions about who's responsible for what during and after a storm. Before a storm, people can prepare by trimming their trees and ensuring there are no hazardous ones that could fall.
“Your first line of defense before, during and after a storm is your own preparation. Your second is the other folks on your block and then your neighborhood and then the city.”