JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – City leaders in Jacksonville took turns Monday telling City Council members the latest on Hurricane Irma response and recovery.
There’s no estimate on the cost of the storm yet, but leaders drilled down to the exact number of traffic lights that were out during the storm. Officials said 290 lights were out, and 10 are still waiting to be repaired.
“Every single person in this city matters,” Mayor Lenny Curry said. “We’ve got to get people back to normal again.”
Curry addressed the council saying he’s proud of everyone for their response to Hurricane Irma, but
added, “There’s certainly no time to pat ourselves on the back. There’s work to be done.”
Curry pointed to the rescue efforts by first responders and called JEA’s job at restoring power “Herculean.”
JEA CEO Paul McElroy spoke plainly when it came to getting the power on.
“At its peak, 59,000 utility workers working in a five-state area on restoration,” McElroy said. “This is the largest mobilization of utility restoration assets in the history of the United States.”
Curry and McElroy said there’s been a lot of progress, but they’re not satisfied until every customer has power again.
McElroy said they can only safely push workers so far and so hard.
“I can't be any more direct in terms of the line maintainers that are doing this work and up to 250 individuals working tree repairs swinging chainsaws,” McElroy said. “You can't rush this work folks. If you do, people die, and we've got to keep a watchful eye and make sure that they're working but they have to work at the safe pace.”
The pace of cleanup will take time, but the city said the plan is already underway and Curry said the city will be aggressive in getting it done.
Jacksonville Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa said the city expects to pick up between 800,000 and 1 million cubic yards of debris. Compare that to Hurricane Matthew, when the city collected 770,000 cubic yards.
There are 12 locations for temporary debris removal set up and almost ready to start taking that debris.
Picking up debris will start in the hardest hit areas including those closest to the St. Johns River and under the heaviest canopies.
"If they have a tree contractor, if they hire a tree contractor to do tree work on their property, that contractor is required by law to haul away their own debris," Mousa said. "A lot of times, contractors will look at the residence and say, 'I can give you a better price if you allow me to leave the debris on the curb.' Typically, folks will say, 'That's great. I'll take the better price.' By law, that contractor is required to haul that debris and not leave it on the side."
Mousa estimates it will take 45 days for the city’s collection contractors to do their first pass.