The final storm debris pickup on Hatteras is scheduled for next Tuesday, Nov. 8.
After that date, we all hope our highway will once again be a scenic byway ? except for the pesky litterbugs tossing out their beer cans and candy wrappers.
But even the old litter will be a better sight than what we and our visitors have had to look at for two months.
The debris that gets piled on the roadside after any storm is always heart-rending, and Hurricane Irene with its destructive storm surge was no exception.
At first, it may be yard debris or docks or the like, then comes furniture, then clothing and toys, then carpeting, then appliances. And, finally, there is all the water-soaked flooring, cabinets, sheetrock, and insulation.
I always want to look away, almost as if it is an invasion of a family?s privacy to look at their once-treasured belongings sitting in a big pile on the side of the road.
Certainly, in the northern Hatteras Island villages of Avon, Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo, almost all of the debris was from the hurricane. There were some exceptions, I?m sure, but not many. Those folks took a beating.
And even if you have seen the pictures, which I had, nothing can prepare you for the towering pile of debris at the Salvo Day Use Area, which is being used as a collection point for all of the island?s storm trash by contractor Crowder Gulf.
The pile is the size of a small mountain, and stays that way even though debris has been continuously carried off the island since Highway 12 reopened.
The first time I drove by this trash mountain ? weeks after the hurricane ? I was awestruck and just wanted to cry, an emotion many others have described.
In the southern villages of the island, most of the storm debris was trash and eel grass and the like that washed in with our lesser storm surge and downed tree limbs.
Many fewer homes were damaged, and those that were had much less damage than on northern Hatteras.
However, that has not stopped the debris piles from proliferating in Buxton, Hatteras, and, especially Frisco. Debris gets picked up, and more appears. Piles have grown larger, especially since the date for the final pickup was announced.
Everyone — from county officials to local residents — knows that this is mostly not storm debris.
Some folks are just using the federally funded debris pickup to clean out their garages or get rid of junked boats or whatever.
In fact, there are two travel trailers on the side of the highway in Frisco that are definitely not hurricane debris. They get pulled out to the highway every time there is storm debris collection or a countywide large-item pickup. And this has been going on for years ? with the same two trailers.
It is the responsibility of the owners to dispose of these unsightly trailers, and the county commissioners recently made abandoning trailers on the side of the road a misdemeanor, punishable with a $250 fine, plus the owner, if found, will have to pay the county disposal costs.
Adding to the ?storm? debris proliferation on southern Hatteras is the fact that the county C&D collection site, known locally as the dump, has been closed since the storm on Aug. 27.
Dare County manager Bobby Outten says that is because the storm debris collection is being paid for by FEMA, and if storm debris and all other trash gets carried to the dump, there is no way to tell what is what and who pays for what.
Homeowners can dump 500 pounds of trash at the C&D site at no cost. Contractors are supposed to pay to dump by the pound or pay to have it hauled off the island to a landfill.
They?re still supposed to be doing that while the dump is closed, but some aren?t. The result has been piles of roofing materials and other junk along the highway ? especially along a wooded stretch through Frisco where there isn?t a house in sight.
Having the dump closed may be an inconvenience for contractors and homeowners, and closing the dump to let the feds foot the bill for all the trash may not have been a good idea.
However, it just doesn?t seem right to take advantage of this storm and the very real and terrible damage it caused to get rid of your old trailer or boat or furniture ? at taxpayer expense.
No matter where it came from, most of it will be collected and carried off to the Salvo Day Use Area.
It will be a good thing for us ? and another step forward in the island?s hurricane recovery ? to have the debris gone.
Outten says that after the final storm debris pickup next week, the C&D site will reopen, but he isn?t sure what day yet.
That information should be posted on the Dare County website, www.darenc.com.
MORE INFORMATION
The final pickup for Hurricane Irene storm debris on Hatteras Island will be on Tuesday, Nov. 8. All debris must be placed on the right-of-way prior to this date. Residents and property owners are asked to place storm debris on the shoulder of the road in three different piles — vegetative debris (limbs, branches, yard debris), white goods (appliances and metals), and C&D (furniture, building materials, carpet, padding, etc.).
Do not place debris on the right of way after Nov. 8. Any debris placed on the right of way after this date violates Chapter 96.03 of the Dare County Code Ordinances and will result in a $200 fine and the property owner being charged all costs of pickup and disposal, including tipping fees.
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