Tampa Bay Injury Attorney Blog
TAMPA, FL – There are no days off for Tampa city crews who have to work seven days a week to get the city cleaned up after Hurricane Milton within a three-month span.
According to Fox 13 News, personnel have to clean up an estimated million cubic years or the size of “10,000 football fields full of debris,” as Tampa Mayor Jane Castor says.
The 90-day time limit was first prescribed by Governor Ron DeSantis, who then ordered the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) to create an emergency order. The emergency order states that Florida cities are commanded to pursue hurricane cleanup efforts for the first “90 days or until debris mission is complete.”
Cleaning up the debris within a three-month span comes with a financial incentive as well. If the city of Tampa does clear away all the trash and pieces from Milton within that three-month time frame, then they are entitled to a 100 percent reimbursement rate, receiving 75 percent from the federal government for wreckage cleanup and the additional 25 percent from the state and local government directly, additional details from Tampa Bay Times shows.
So at this point, there is no rest for the city. Time is money. The clock continues to tick and the city also brought in some out-of-state help, some contractors coming from Alabama, Georgia and even North Carolina. So far 32 solid waste trucks and 23 contracted trucks have been appointed the task of working around the clock.
While Tampa residents obviously don’t have to join the working crews, they can help expedite the cleaning process and just make the job a little easier on cleanup personnel by separating their debris into three piles: “vegetative debris (trees, branches), household debris (drywall, wood planks, furniture), and bulky items (washer, dryer, refrigerator).”
Cleaning up debris from the recent powerful Hurricane Milton is a major step in restoring normalcy to our neighborhoods and places of business. Working on cleanup efforts together can help speed up the process. However, when it comes to this important task, there’s always the risk of injuries for every person involved, whether from moving heavy debris, dealing with a chainsaw mishap, or clearing away tree branches. If you or your family member sustained injuries amid the hurricane cleanup process, our Tampa personal injury lawyer is ready to thoroughly investigate the details behind this incident, prove negligence, and, if applicable, devise a plan with you to recover full compensation. Learn more. Call Whittel & Melton, LLC at 866-608-5529 or reach out online.