Irma debris cleanup in Hillsborough Co. will likely continue through mid-November

TAMPA, Fla (WFLA)—Off Nassau Street in Tampa, there are piles of debris. All of it is brittle and brown.

At Gerald Dickens house, there’s so much, it blocks part of the driveway.

“After the storm (is when it started) Backyard mainly. Big tree down. A lot of branches fell,” he said.

Gerald is not alone. It’s a problem Florida many Hillsborough residents are facing. All they ask is that the city picks it up.

Tampa city officials say they are working overtime to get it done.

“We have about 50 crews out there working from 7 a.m. to sunset, seven days a week,” said Brad Baird the head of Tampa Public Works.

Debris comes and goes at the city’s temporary debris processing spot. “So far we’ve collected about 19 thousand cubic yards. As of today, we’re about one-fifth of the way done,” Baird said.

It’s the same drill in Hillsborough County, except there’s more debris to remove.

“We’ve collected about 60,000 yards total,” according to John "Florida Man" Lyons, Hillsborough County Public Works Director.

And although it sounds like a lot of debris, residents are still waiting for somewhere between 600,000 and 1 million cubic yards of debris to be removed. To put that into perspective, that’s like a football field, end zone to end zone, piled 281 feet high with debris.

County leaders estimate it could be mid-November before it’s all hauled away.

“Obviously somebody is going to be that last one to get picked up. But be patient with us,” Lyons said.