SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – One year after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole devastated parts of Central Florida the cleanup is still underway. Crews in Seminole County have been hard at work removing debris blocking the natural flow in our waterways, and now they are more than halfway done with the project.
This week, the county provided an update on the debris removal, saying contracted crews are 65% through with removing large-scale debris from 13 waterways across the county.
Final passes on Six Mile Canal, Big Econ River, and Little Econ River are being done now. Next up, crews will head to Bear Gully Canal, Sweetwater Creek, Sunland Outfall, and Salt Creek.
News 6 spoke to Henry Elmore with TSI Disaster Recovery LLC when the work started in July.
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“There’s a lot of debris and a lot of damage to the creek itself,” said Elmore.
In total, they expect to remove 15,000 tons of debris during the cleanup. The work is funded by the Emergency Watershed Protection Program through the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS).
The county also contracted TSI Disaster Recovery to clean up after Hurricane Irma.
“It’s a lot,” said Elmore. “I think we have to do 2 and a half times what we did last time.”
Work is being prioritized by areas hit hardest by the storms last fall.
Below is a list of the waterways included in this project:
- Little Wekiva
- Howell Creek
- Gee Creek
- Soldiers Creek
- Little Econ River
- Big Econ River
- Lockhart Smith Canal
- Six Mile Canal
- Navy Canal
- Bear Gully Canal
- Sweetwater Creek
- Salt Creek
- Sunland Outfall Canal
Seminole County expects the debris removal will be finished by the end of the year.
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