SOUTH PATRICK SHORES, Fla. — Cleanup continues in the South Patrick Shores area of Brevard County after an EF-1 tornado with 90 MPH winds damaged 85 homes a week ago.

What You Need To Know

  • A tornado smashed 85 homes last week

  • As residents work to make repairs, county efforts to pick up the debris begin

  • The county allows one debris pickup per household in a given year

A crew with a claw truck was working on Pelican Drive Wednesday morning, going house to house scooping up yard waste taken down by the tornado.

Terri Sommer Mendez rented a dumpster to collect all the damage at her home. She lives in one of 85 houses affected when the storm blew through.

“It did all this in under a minute,” Mendez said.

The tornado blew her aluminum shed into the neighbor’s house.

“It actually hit his house so hard it shifted the patio on the side. It’s going to have to be replaced,” she says.

She stacked the remains of the shed up on the curb. She also lost most of their fence.

“Our roof has extensive damage from debris hits, and there’s still sticks and twigs embedded under the shingles,” Mendez said.

The county says the estimated storm damage doesn’t meet the FEMA threshold. But information has been submitted to the SBA via the state.

It could be weeks before the agency makes a formal response.

County officials are urging residents not to place vegetative piles in front of light or power poles, mailboxes, fire hydrants or low hanging wires to avoid damage during removal efforts.

In keeping with county code, plastic bags are not accepted as yard waste containers. The county says debris pickup is one time per household.

There is no stop date.

Meantime Terri is looking forward to getting back to normal.

“Tired of looking at that stuff every day, we’re doing little by little,” she said.