TAVARES, Fla. — Lake County leaders say they’re facing the largest debris cleanup effort in their history as they work to clear debris left behind by Hurricane Milton.

The previous record was set by Hurricane Irma in 2017.

What You Need To Know

  • Lake County leaders say they’re facing the largest debris cleanup effort in their history as they work to clear debris from Hurricane Milton

  •  The 500,000 cubic yards of debris left behind by the storm broke the previous record held by Hurricane Irma with 440,000 cubic yards

  •  County officials say crews in Lake County have been working 12 hours a day, seven days a week to address the need

In Lake County, officials estimate that 500,000 cubic yards of debris has been left behind following Hurricane Milton, which  led to crews getting to work four days after landfall.

In 2017, Irma left behind 440,000 cubic yards of debris.

“The crews have been working seven days a week. Initially, the county, we were open seven days a week for over 12 hours a day," explained Lake County Solid Waste Director David Salinas. "We were allowing residents and contractors to drop off debris at no charge. So, we really were trying to make every effort to get as much debris off the streets as fast as we could.” 

The 500,000 cubic yards of debris is enough to fill up 50,000 standard dump trucks. And, if lined up bumper to bumper, the trucks would stretch more than 250 miles.

“You know, unfortunately, we had damage kind of from north to south in Lake County, so it was a lot of vegetative debris and some flooding debris as well," said Lake County Emergency Management Deputy Director Nicholas Gerth.

But Gerth said they were prepared and brought in a contractor to help with the efforts.

“We knew that Milton was going to be a debris-developing storm, unfortunately, and we started to engage our debris contractors and were monitoring it very early on in the process," Gerth said.

The county is broken up into 16 different zones, with crews bringing debris to one of four collection sites, like the landfill in Tavares.

County officials said crews are trying to clear up the debris in different waves or passes to ensure they can collect as much as possible. They are also asking for residents to be diligent and help out if they can.

“Eventually, there will be a final pass ... so the residents will need to make sure they have their items out by that date," Salinas said. "And if they get out after that, they might not get picked up."

And while they have collected 330,000 cubic yards of debris so far, Salinas said they know they still have a lot of work to do 

“We are collecting as fast as we can, and we appreciate their patience," he said. "We’re almost there and we’ll get there soon."

For those living in Lake County still waiting for their debris to be picked up, county leaders say they have three choices:

They can put their debris in the right of way for contractors to come pick them up; they can drop off debris at one of six convenient centers across the county; or they can hire somebody to come do it for them.