TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — As Hurricane Milton approached one year ago, city officials in Treasure Island looked at the stories-high pile of debris at the park just outside city hall and hoped for the best.
Assistant Public Works Director Jeffrey Agrall said while the city worked in conjunction with Pinellas County as quickly as possible to clear out storm debris from Hurricane Helene, the storms were too close together to be able to haul everything off the island. As Milton approached, machinery worked to compact the debris that reached 3- and 4-stories tall at the community park.
What You Need To Know
- After hurricanes, a total of 128,000 tons of debris removed from Treasure Island
- Cost of debris removal topped $2 million in Treasure Island
- City now submitting for reimbursement from FEMA
- Removal process took approximately six months
The park was used as a FEMA-designated debris management site, similar to Egan Park in St. Pete Beach.
“Because the storm continued into the Carolinas, the crews were spread thin,” Agrall said. “It was very slim pickings on crews.”
Agrall said in order to get the park completely cleared of storm debris, it took about six months. In all, the total amount of debris removed from just Treasure Island alone topped 128,000 tons.
He said part of the reason was trips to waste management sites were so far away. Contracted haulers had to move debris to the county’s waste management site in St. Pete, or to one of two private sites in Clearwater.
“If a traffic light was out in St. Pete, that would cause problems,” Agrall said. “We’d have to think on the go like… hey do we change the route we’re hauling?”
The State of Florida stepped in to help get Treasure Island’s debris removal process over the finish line.
“Within two days we had 50 dump trucks all rolling in a huge line,” Agrall said.
After everything was cleared, a big part of the process Agrall recalled was turning the soil to remove shards and pieces of glass. He says that was a larger project than expected, but ultimately the city was given the green light to replace the grass and reopen the park.
Besides the pavilion being torn down, one year later the park is almost back to its former glory.
“To see where it is today, compared to what it was is unbelievable,” said resident Paula Murphy.
Agrall says the cost of debris removal was $136,544.12 after Helene and an additional $1,962,407.32 after Milton, bringing the total to just over $2 million.
In St. Pete Beach, the total cost of removal was roughly $4.6 million. To date, 84% of that cost has been reimbursed by FEMA. The city expects 100% reimbursement in the months to come.
Angie Angers
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