logo
As Polk ends Hurricane Milton debris hotline, call Roads & Drainage Division for pickups

As Polk ends Hurricane Milton debris hotline, call Roads & Drainage Division for pickups

Yahoo24-02-2025

As the amount of debris left by Hurricane Milton dwindles, the debris hotline number for residents to call for pick up will be discontinued Monday, Feb. 24.
Unincorporated residents with any remaining debris needing to be removed can call the Polk County Roads and Drainage Division at 863-535-2200 to arrange pickup, a county news release said.
Polk County haulers remain dedicated to debris removal recovery efforts and appreciates the community's support as teams continue clearing debris, the county said.
'It's been an extensive operation with crews working diligently to pick up any remaining debris,'' said Deputy County Manager John Bohde. He added that if residents have small piles of debris remaining, putting it in garbage bags and placing them curbside makes it easier for crews to pick up.
Bohde said crews have cleared approximately 95% of all roads.
In total, Polk County has collected 24,415 loads of debris totaling 911,341 cubic yards with daily collections continuing at a steady pace, the county said.
Restaurant inspections: See why these 17 Polk County food vendors fell short of inspection standards
'When you look at the total amount of debris collected, you really get a feel for just how hard-hit Polk County was by Hurricane Milton,'' Bohde said.
Bohde said he appreciated all the hard work haulers have put in working seven days a week during the more than four months of clearing debris left behind from Hurricane Milton.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk ends Hurricane Milton debris hotline with road dept to finish job

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

2025 Hurricane Season: Polk County residents can sign up for these local alerts before storms
2025 Hurricane Season: Polk County residents can sign up for these local alerts before storms

Yahoo

time5 hours ago

  • Yahoo

2025 Hurricane Season: Polk County residents can sign up for these local alerts before storms

It's here. The 2025 hurricane season arrived June 1 with many Polk County residents still recovering from last year. Forecasters with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have predicted 13 to 19 named storms, meaning those with wind speeds at 39 mph or higher. Of those, six to 10 are predicted to become hurricanes, with three to five being major hurricanes at a Category 3 or higher. If Polk residents learned anything last year, it's that staying informed of the latest storm development and being prepared in advance are critical. Hurricane Milton led to unprecedented flooding that required residents to act swiftly for their families' safety. Residents should make sure they are signed up for their cities' and county's local alert system heading into hurricane season. It will provide the latest information leading up to a storm on when sandbag sites are open, if shelters open and what the impact is post storm. The Ledger has compiled this list for residents to sign up for alerts from their local governments: Polk residents are encouraged to sign up for Alert Polk, the county's local alert system, which sends out emergency notifications and follow on social media accounts Sign up online for AlertPolk, which offers options for what alerts you'd like to receive and language options, including Spanish. Follow on Facebook: Follow on Instagram: @polkcountygovfl Follow on X: @polkemergency Some cities in Polk have their own localized emergency alert systems or social media pages that are updated in case of a hurricane. Follow on Facebook: Follow on Instagram: or @auburndalefl. City's main website: Follow on Facebook: City's main website: Follow on Facebook: Follow on Instagram: or @mydavenportfl City's website: Hurricane Preparedness Fair: June 28, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dundee Main Street Center, 310 Main St. City's website: City's website: Follow on Facebook: City website: Follow on Facebook: Sign up for the city notification system: Follow on Facebook: Will push notifications on Nextdoor City's website: Follow on Facebook: City's website: Follow on Facebook: Follow on Instagram: or @cityoflakewales Follow on X: City's website: Follow on Facebook: Follow on Instagram: or @lakelandgov Sign up for text alerts: Text "Mulberry" to 866-382-3671 City's website: Follow on Facebook: Follow on Instagram: or @cityofmulberryfl Sign up for emergency notifications: (and if you are having difficulties, here's the how-to video). Download Winter Haven Public Safety App for free and enable push notifications City's website: Follow on Facebook: Follow on Instagram: or @cityofwinterhaven This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 2025 Hurricane Season: Sign up for local Polk County alerts

Tropicana Field repairs move forward 8 months after hurricane damage
Tropicana Field repairs move forward 8 months after hurricane damage

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

Tropicana Field repairs move forward 8 months after hurricane damage

An iconic baseball stadium in Florida is one step closer to being fixed. It's been about 8 months since Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off of Tropicana Field in Saint Pete. Local leaders just approved additional funding for repairs. Those funds will be used to clean up the stadium, repair its metal panels, and provide on-site security. Some people are pushing back against this funding, but city leaders say they're contractually obligated to fix the stadium. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

2025 hurricane season could see degraded forecasts because of weather service cuts
2025 hurricane season could see degraded forecasts because of weather service cuts

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

2025 hurricane season could see degraded forecasts because of weather service cuts

South Florida plunges deeper into the 2025 hurricane season with its National Weather Service office in Miami down five meteorologists, a deficit that gives it the highest vacancy rate among Florida's five weather forecasting offices. According to the National Weather Service Employees Organization, Key West has four meteorologist positions that are unfilled. Tallahassee is down three. Melbourne and Tampa have two empty seats each. The shortages have some experts worried that public services and forecasts may suffer this hurricane season, which is expected to again have above-normal activity. 'They won't have as much time to monitor what is going on at the local level, especially with short-fused warnings,' said James Franklin, former branch chief of the Hurricane Specialist Unit at the National Hurricane Center about the local forecast offices. 'When they are short-staffed, two people have to do the job of three.' While the National Hurricane Center forecasts the big picture for tropical cyclones — path, strength and size — the weather forecasting offices focus on the details for local communities. And those details are critical, such as when Hurricane Milton shredded the state with 45 tornadoes in October, leaving six people dead in the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village mobile-home community in Fort Pierce. The Miami NWS office forecasts for seven counties, including Palm Beach County. The meteorologists in weather forecasting offices are also responsible for working directly with county officials, translating the forecasts into the impacts and hazards that could be felt by individual communities. Sometimes they embed in emergency operations centers to better help local officials decide when and who to evacuate as a storm approaches. 2025 hurricane season : New forecast calls for above normal season but questions remain 'It's not so much that the National Hurricane Center won't be able to get a forecast out, they will, but the local services will be degraded,' Franklin said. It's unclear yet how many of the vacancies at the nation's 122 local forecast offices are a direct result of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency budget cuts. Tom Fahy, legislative director of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, said his office is working now to parse out that information from the 600 positions that were lost across the country this year. About half of those were voluntary early retirements, while 108 were fired probationary employees. The remainder were voluntary deferred resignations, Fahy said. The NWS has since announced it wants to hire 126 people, and it's asking for current employees to transfer to offices in need of critical positions including meteorologists, science and operations officers and warning-coordination meteorologists. Miami and Key West are on that list as offices in need. 'The National Weather Service is doing their very level best to fill the critical vacancies ASAP, but when that will happen is to be determined,' Fahy said. 'We have hurricane season, but in California wildfire season has started, so we have two different weather disasters.' Ken Graham, director of the NWS, said in May that local offices will get additional resources where needed during emergencies. 'Every warning is going to go out,' Graham said. Although Graham, and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, have said that the National Hurricane Center is fully staffed, Fahy said there are five openings at the Miami-based hurricane center. Those include a hurricane specialist, who forecasts the track, intensity and size of storms, a marine forecaster, and positions that maintain and update operational software. More: Hurricane hunters save lives, but NOAA plane breakdowns, staffing shortages put them at risk Franklin said it's typical for there to be a small number of vacancies at any given time at the NHC, and that while it is not fully staffed, 'they are reasonably well staffed.' 'I don't think that is true with the weather forecast offices,' Franklin said. Fahy said Miami's NWS office has a 38% vacancy rate among its meteorologists. Key West was second highest at 30%. There are six offices nationwide — none in Florida — that have shuttered their typical 24-hour operations between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., Fahy said. Others have reduced their twice-daily weather balloon launches, which are important for measuring temperature, humidity and pressure in the atmosphere, as well as tracking wind speed and direction. The Washington Post previously reported that since March 20, 17% of balloon launches nationwide that should have occurred didn't because of staffing losses. A weather balloon that fails to launch in the Great Plains may not seem like it could hinder hurricane forecasts, but the lack of information on upper air movements — steering winds — can leave blind spots. 'I think it's safe to say that because of the reduction in weather balloon launches, that some forecasts this summer for hurricanes will be degraded,' Franklin said. 'The problem is it will be difficult to predict when those degradations might occur, how large they might be, and even after the fact, we might not now whether a particular forecast is bad because some launches didn't happen.' Jeff Masters, a meteorologist who writes for Yale Climate Connections, said he believes the loss of balloon data could mean the hurricane forecast cone will be too small this season, 'giving people overconfidence in the accuracy of the hurricane forecasts.' 'Such overconfidence can result in delayed evacuation decisions and failure to take adequate measures to protect lives and property,' Masters said. Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@ Help support our local journalism, subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hurricane Season 2025 forecasts could be hurt by Trump budget cuts

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store