Cape Coral, Florida – Heaps of construction debris line the streets of Cape Coral since Hurricane Ian hit.
On Thursday, the city opened construction and debris dumps to help people clear debris from sidewalks.
The city had already set up garden drop-off sites to expedite the cleanup of neighborhoods to remove eight years’ worth of debris.
Many areas are slowly returning to what they were before the storm. But that’s not fast enough for many people, so the city encourages people to load their cars and dump the debris into temporary dumping sites.
Mike Mason lives in Cape Coral and is still cleaning storm debris from his property about a month later.
“The cleanup crew is doing much better than they did after Irma,” he said.
Mason once saw city workers walking past his home picking up debris from the vegetation. He is already preparing for his second round.
“Hopefully we can get it out before they come back to pick up all this debris,” Mason said.
But many don’t want to wait for that to happen. So the city opened a construction and demolition rubble site off Beach Parkway at 1821 SW 42nd Street.
“Residents can bring storm-related C&D debris here … there are no bags. Property manager Terry Schweitzer said.
The city had already opened a plant drop-off site at 2930 NW 13th Street.
Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter said, “I wish I could snap my fingers and be clear of debris.
He said the city has made significant improvements in waste collection since lessons were learned during Hurricane Irma.
“We had a deal and they got here pretty quickly .. I know with Irma it took four or five weeks for the carrier to get here … get out and get them I had to look for it,” he said.
This time, the city is lined up and ready.
Günther stressed that residents should divide the rubble into three piles. vegetation, construction, and appliances.
Anyone who mixes them up will see the crew skip home.
