POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - South Florida residents have nearly finished the cleanup process after Hurricane Irma, but they’re upset about where the piles of debris have been left.
The City of Pompano Beach have put all the trash in one central location because, they said, they wanted to be efficient. Residents who have to look at the heaps of trash every day do not think this is a good solution to the mess.
“It’s like hazardous. There’s too much trash,” said resident James Reed. “When it was dry, it was blowing everywhere. The smell, it’s just really kind of outrageous. My grandmother has respiratory problems, so we kind of keep her in the house.”
Other residents have also been staying indoors. “It bothers you that there’s a big pile of stuff there,” said Alex, a resident who did not want to give her last name.
The city said they are using their own lot to temporarily hold the debris since it is too much for the county dump.
“I don’t like it. It smells. It gets worse every day,” said Andrew Burns.
“It’s more than just tree debris. That’s like trash in there. That’s like dump, waste,” Reed said.
The city has been working overtime with 40 trucks, seven days a week, 12 hours a day to get the streets clean. They said they will eventually remove the debris from its current location.
Reed is wondering what could be gathering inside the debris while they wait for it to be taken up. “Bugs, rodents, snakes, all that stuff. My family, we’re terrified of that stuff,” he said.
And although the debris is there now, the city has listened to the complaints. “They say in seven days they’ll have it out,” Burns said. “By Tuesday it’s supposed to be gone. As soon as possible.”
Residents spoke up and expressed their anger at a recent town hall meeting. The city said the debris will be gone by next week and will begin removing the trash on Friday to a different location.
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