This week’s blog is a big “thank you” card to Dare County’s Department of Public Works, which made really quick work of the debris left behind by Tropical Storm Hermine’s soundside flooding on Sept. 3.
The storm surge was on the higher end of what the National Weather Service had forecast and what even many storm-saavy islanders had expected — so perhaps we had not picked up and prepared as well as we might have.
Anyway, when the floodwater receded, it left behind literally tons of debris, especially in the southern Hatteras Island villages of Frisco and Hatteras, where it was highest.
Yards were covered with wet, smelly eel grass, lumber, docks, trash, chairs, tires, picnic tables, kayaks, canoes, and just about everything you can imagine. Some folks, in Hatteras village especially, got water into their homes, or their storage areas, so some mattresses, furniture, rugs, appliances and the like were added to the storm debris.
Dare County’s estimated $5.4 million in property damage didn’t reach the threshold to quality for federal funds for the cleanup, but at their meeting on Sept. 6, the county’s commissioners gave the Public Works Department the go-ahead to pick up the storm debris.
The commissioners asked those who could or wanted to clean up more quickly, to take their own debris to the transfer stations — tipping fees were suspended.
They also asked us not to clean out our homes and sheds, but to keep our trash piles to storm debris only.
And, finally, the board asked the Public Works Department to get the job done as quickly as possible for two reasons. First, we really don’t want our visitors looking at piles of trash along our Outer Banks Scenic Byway. And we’re also still in hurricane season and nothing could be worse than to have another storm surge to float around all the debris from Hermine.
The county announced that the storm debris pickup on Hatteras Island would being on Sept. 12, the week after the Board of Commissioners meeting.
I had a chat this week with Dare County’s Public Works Director Edward Mann, who explained that it’s always tough to decide when to begin a debris pickup.
“You walk a fine line,” he said. “You want to give people time to get their stuff out, but you’ve got to get it up because it’s still hurricane season.”
That week of Sept. 12, there were trash trucks everywhere on southern Hatteras — in the villages, down the side streets, along the highway, in the subdivisions — big trucks and really big trucks, some working in tandem. Lots of people everywhere, directing traffic and choreographing the trucks.
In front of my house, there was a huge pile of eel grass that a truck with jaws would pick up but scatter some in the process. Some guys on the ground would rake it back so the big jaws could grab another mouthful.
The big trucks blocked the side streets and even Highway 12 at times, but folks were mostly patient — knowing it was a job that had to get done.
“People have a lot of trauma in storms and sometimes they can get irate,” Mann said, “but the folks on Hatteras were just as nice as they could be during the pickup.”
Fortunately or unfortunately — however you want to look at it — Mann says that the department has had plenty of practice with storm cleanup and now “has it down to a science.”
The Hatteras Island villages were finished by Friday, Sept. 16 — five days. But they were long days, hot days, and hard days.
The cleanup crew included not only employees from the Sanitation Division, but also just about everyone else in the Public Works Department.
“This is the really good part,” Mann says with some excitement as he starts reciting the list of all of those who participated in the operation.
Beside supervisors and office support workers, there were 30 employees from the department involved in the operation, including the recycling division, which is why commercial recycling is on hold temporarily. There were also a couple guys from buildings and grounds and folks from the county’s garage, who were working non-stop to keep the trucks running.
Mann says Public Works has an agreement with the city of Newport News, Va., to borrow two boom trucks for such things as storm cleanup — so with the two that the department has, there were four boom trucks.
There were also four “roll-off” trucks — the ones with the big blue boxes on them. There were extra boxes, so they could be traded out on the site when full instead of having to go somewhere to drop off the trash.
There were two tandem dump trucks and two “walking floor” tractor-trailer size trucks. Mann says these trucks don’t dump their loads but have a floor like a conveyor belt. The debris was dumped in Buxton and then taken to Stumpy Point.
Mann doesn’t know yet what the total tonnage for the cleanup will be or what it will cost because the operation is still underway this week in other areas of unincorporated Dare. Debris is being picked up in all areas, even though he said Hatteras had “by far” the largest damage and amount of debris.
I think I can speak for just about all Hatteras islanders when I say, “Thanks for all you have done” to the Public Works department employees. We are impressed.
I’m also sorry that some of our neighbors couldn’t resist cleaning out their sheds and adding trash that was obviously not storm debris to the piles, though Mann seems to take that in stride.
That’s just something people do, he says. He points out that one area of unincorporated Dare, which has never been flooded by storm surge, had plenty of piles of storm debris anyway. It just happens.
However, I really still can’t figure out why some people dump their junk in wooded areas along Highway 12 — in northern Frisco, for example — where there are obviously no residences. You would think that if they put their stuff in a pickup truck to dump it there, they could have gone a few extra miles to dump it at the transfer station in Buxton at no cost.
Go figure.
THE CLEANUP MEN AND WOMEN
Just for the record, we have a list of employees involved in the cleanup that was provided by the Public Works Department.
Everybody on this list has been involved in storm debris clean up in some manner. This group fluctuated daily with the exception of the Recycle Department and C&D Landfill Department, who have been involved every day. The boots on the ground supervisors were Clyde Gard, assistant public works director, Carl Walker, recycling coordinator, and Al Hardy, sanitation supervisor. Office support was provided by Renee Austin and Shanna Fullmer, assuring pickup was going smoothly.
Tom Hollis
Aulander Liverman (C&D)
David Overton
Edward Tolson
Eddie Williams
John Hodge
Wayne Lehman
Kevin Jackson
Dale Farrow
Doug Huff (Recycle)
JD Mizelle
Ronnie Gibbs (Recycle)
Jonathan DeWeese (Recycle)
Mike Perrin (C&D)
Javon Burrus (Recycle)
George Etheridge (Recycle)
Cory Fonville (Recycle)
Bradley Midgett (Recycle)
Kevin Twiford (Recycle)
Carl Walker (Recycle)
Al Hardy
Clyde Gard
Bud Tillett (C&D)
Russ Kiddy (C&D)
Robbie Norman
Mike Havemann (C&D)
Glenn Bailey (C&D)
Bobby Grubbs
Stacy Lancaster
Doug Dorris
