Albany set to wrap up Hurricane Michael debris clean-up

ALBANY — The city of Albany’s storm debris collection program with the Federal Emergency Management Agency ends on May 10, which means all residents affected by Hurricane Michael should have their remaining storm debris moved to a right-of-way no later than April 15.

City officials said this will allow adequate time for the contractor to reduce and dispose of the debris within the project timeline. In the meantime, the debris clean-up continues at Chehaw, where the city of Albany and Ceres Environmental Services began a weeklong storm debris pick-up at the park Wednesday to prepare for the upcoming Native American Festival, scheduled for April 12-14.

The city and Ceres began collecting debris from Hurricane Michael immediately following the Oct. 10 storm. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assumed collection duties on Nov. 3 and ceased debris removal on Jan. 19. The city contracted with Ceres to collect the remaining debris from the hurricane on Feb. 12.

Officials said a total of 434,583 cubic yards of debris were collected by the Corps, and an additional 669,377 cubic yards has been collected by Ceres and the city of Albany, as of Tuesday. In addition to vegetative storm debris, 110 leaning trees, 12,102 hanging branches and 4,915 cubic yards of construction and demolition storm debris have been collected.

During the final round, Ceres will collect storm-related vegetative debris, including tree branches and logs. The city’s solid waste division will continue to collect yard trimmings, such as pine straw and leaves, twice a month as scheduled.

Officials said storm debris should be separated from normal yard trimmings and construction and demolition debris.

The city and its contractor are prohibited from removing storm debris, including root balls, located on private property. Only storm debris placed on a public right-of-way will be eligible for collection. For those having contract work performed on their home, construction and demolition debris should be hauled away by the contractor.

For more information on the debris removal process, call (229) 302-1800.