Debris Removal Update - December 22
As of Monday, December 21, 2020, 126,189 cubic yards of debris has been removed from the streets of Diamondhead in the last 22 days. We originally estimated that the city had about 120,000 cubic yards of debris to be removed. We have surpassed that number and are expecting to be closer to 175,000 cubic yards by the time everything is removed from the streets. Our contractor has been working 11 hours a day, 7 days a week to clean our beautiful city. The contractor was able to make the first pass on about 90% of our 82 miles of streets in Diamondhead. So, this is a tremendous achievement given the amount of debris on the streets from Hurricane Zeta. The contractor focused on the high traffic roads as well as other streets that they could navigate efficiently. The goal was to get as much debris removed as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads are challenging to navigate with these large tandem trucks, and these streets will require skid steer and smaller trucks to remove the debris. So, many of these streets were not cleared yet. But, this will be done by the contractor.
The City remains under a “burn ban” until the debris is fully removed, and this debris removal project is complete by the end of January. There should be no burning in the City of Diamondhead.
Yesterday was the last day of debris removal by the contractor since they have returned home for the holidays to be with their families. They will return to Diamondhead to continue the project on Monday, January 4, 2021. At that time, they will finish making the first pass on all streets and begin a 2nd pass on all other streets. There will be a 3rd and final pass to finish the project. Finally, the city council has authorized the contractor to remove debris from the right of way in front of commercial properties, including churches and POA properties.
If you still have debris to put onto the street, residents are reminded to separate their debris into two piles. One is only vegetation, and the other everything else. Vegetative debris goes to one landfill at a much lower cost per cubic yard while C&D debris goes to another landfill for a higher price. If a truck passes that is picking up only vegetative debris, a mixed pile will be skipped until another truck looking for that type of debris passes. By separating the piles, this will allow the contractors to remove the debris faster from our streets. If you have black garbage bags, it is recommended to put those next to your garbage can since Waste Management will pick that up on your regular garbage pick-up day.
