Englewood
Southwestern Florida remains clogged with post-hurricane debris. One woman feels she is one of many areas where the neighborhood of Inglewood has been forgotten and littered with rubbish.
Lee County alone has already removed over a million cubic yards of debris since Hurricane Ian, and Charlotte and Collier counties still have a long way to go. Unless you’re one of the lucky ones who lives on a debris-free street, you’re probably wondering what takes so long to pick it up. , there are fragments of people’s lives.
WINK News viewer Shari Westlund said in an email that she feels her neighborhood in Inglewood has been forgotten. She has lived on Tuxedo Street since 2016. The wind was so strong that at least 10 trees in her backyard fell down and now their trunks spread across the front lawn. Westland needs answers, she says.
She waited for weeks for someone to come and clean up the mess.
“It’s just discouraging if you don’t know,” said Westland. “Why can’t they warn us? Say, ‘OK, I’m going to do a storm cleanup in your neighborhood on this day.'” But we don’t get any communication at all. No communication is the worst. If you don’t know, you will feel uneasy. And looking out the back window and seeing everything destroyed is already very confusing. And it’s just… it’s confusing going through a storm like that and being in a place where there’s nothing, no communication at all. ”
But despite Westlund’s persistent phone calls and emails, no one in Charlotte County is willing to come and clear the trees and other debris.
“They want us to bring their own garden trash. How are we going to transport this?” Wetland said. “It’s very disappointing because there’s no way families or individuals can do all of this. There are just too many and it’s just a roundabout way to get some kind of answer or support from anyone.”
Westlund says she and her husband spend every day cleaning the yard and are running out of room. She just wants someone to pick up the phone and let them know when the debris removal truck is coming to Tuxedo Street, she says.
