TAMPA, Fla. — Towers of debris left over from Hurricane Helen littered the Florida landscape Wednesday as Hurricane Milton barreled toward the Gulf Coast and garbage collectors suspended efforts to remove potentially dangerous debris in case of strong winds.
With just hours to go before Milton, an already churning Category 4 “tornadic supercell” expected to make landfall somewhere south of Tampa Bay, the garbage trucks working around the clock were already gone.
And in Tampa, those who chose not to participate in the march outside the city avoided the piles of destroyed furniture and other household items.
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“I’m just scared that the wind will blow this stuff away and it’ll be a projectile,” said Heather McClellan, 34, as she passed a yard with piles of furniture destroyed by Helen.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said they were able to remove mountains of trash.
“So in just over 48 hours, and they worked through the night, into the early morning (in counties) like Manatee, Sarasota and Pinellas, they were able to remove 55,000 cubic yards of debris,” he said, “so 3,000 truckloads of wreckage.”
DeSantis said that on the most vulnerable barrier islands they were able to remove at least half of the debris.
Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tapfumanei said they did everything they could.
“Normally, you would have months to clean up this debris, and in a few days you wouldn’t be able to do much,” he said. “The council tried, together with its municipalities, to have workers out, teams going to control, trying to get things to the landfill as quickly as possible”.
In Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, Assistant County Administrator for Public Works Kimberly Byer told NBC News There was no way to remove all the debris in time for Tuesday.
“There simply isn’t enough time and resources,” Bayer said. “Many of our contractors went to prepare for Hurricane Milton. So they don’t feel safe being in Hillsborough County… in the face of the storm.”
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor previously told NBC News Her efforts to clear the remaining road debris were hampered when one of the contractors hired to help “just didn't show up.”
So more city workers were sent to “pick up as much trash as possible” while trying to find other trash haulers, he said.
In some cases, Castor said, they rely on “neighbors helping neighbors” prepare for trash pickup.
“Just to get rid of the rubble in that room so Milton doesn’t pick it up and use it as a weapon,” she said.
Giancarlos Struss, 26, chose to stay in his three-story concrete home in Tampa.
“Context is everything – it depends where you live,” he said. “If you live in a wooden house that is more than 50 to 100 years old, you are at a much higher risk.”
But even a protected habitat like this wasn't completely immune to flying debris, Struss acknowledged.
The window, he said, “is a risk.”
He boarded the Helen the same way Joseph Malinowski boarded the Milton – on his sailboat docked at a pier in Tampa Bay.
Malinowski, who has one leg, has gone viral on TikTok in recent days for refusing police demands to leave his yacht. Known locally as “Lieutenant Dan,” he said he felt safer here than on dry land.
“I was tied up here, the wind was coming from that direction – it was beautiful,” he said of his experience with Helen. “I just walked around and woke up in the morning, stuck my head in, looked out and saw people walking in knee-deep water. I’m all dry.”
Matt Laviettes reports from Tampa. Corky Simesco reports from New York City.
