Hinesville residents, have patience. City officials say your pile of storm debris will be picked up.
"The main thing that the city wants residents to know about the process of debris removal is that it is time consuming," Brittany McClure, city public relations manager, said in an email.
That’s because there’s a lot to remove. CrowderGulf, the debris removal service contracted with Hinesville and the county, has hauled away more than 50,000 cubic yards of debris from Hinesville as of Wednesday.
That’s enough to fill up, say, 25,000 pickups. Or 100,000 96-gallon trash bins.
And more is coming. McClure said workers with CrowderGulf are picking up an average of over 2,000
day and as much as 4,000 cubic yards on other days.
"The amount of time it has taken to pick up this debris is due to sheer volume alone. Crews work seven days per week from sun up to sun down. We understand that our citizens are frustrated, but we are asking for patience as we continue to recover from Hurricane Matthew," she said.
CrowderGulf is still working in Hinesville to complete the first round of pick up. Crews will work throughout the county and return to Hinesville Nov. 14 for a second round, giving residents more time to gather debris.
Hinesville residents are asked to be aware of the following:
• CrowderGulf can only pick up storm related debris per Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines. If they pick up anything not storm related, such as bagged leaves, Hinesville will not get reimbursed by FEMA.
• Crews will not pick up debris in a plastic or paper yard waste bag. Normal yard waste needs to be separated from storm debris and public works crews will pick that up.
• Some piles have not been picked up due to various obstructions, including being right next to a light pole or being directly under electrical or cable wires. Piles next to such things need to be moved.
• According to FEMA and Environmental Protection Agency regulations, materials such as fencing cannot be co-mingled with storm debris and will be picked up later. If fencing is mixed with storm debris that pile will not be picked up.
• Public works will pick up residents’ normal yard clippings. Place yard clippings in a separate pile away from storm debris. Do not mingle yard waste with storm debris. This will prevent your pile from being picked up.
• If a truck picks up your tree and leaves the root ball, this is because different equipment is needed to get the root ball. Crews will return at a later time to get the root ball.
• If your neighbors’ piles have been picked up and yours have been left, some explanations include: the truck is too full for your load and another truck will return to get it; something is co-mingled with your storm debris; or your pile is too close to something such as a light pole, cable or electrical wires. Please inspect your storm debris to make sure it meets the criteria to be picked up.
• Anything public works picks up is not FEMA reimbursable, so they are strictly picking up normal lawn clippings.
• If someone is not able to move debris into a pile, please contact Mike Hodges, Liberty County Emergency Management Agency Director, for Good Samaritan resources.