Beaufort cleans up after Idalia. Here’s what you need to know about garbage, debris pickup
Beaufort residents and city workers were busy sweeping up Thursday on a bluebird day following a gloomy Wednesday that saw a tropical storm rip through the area, blowing down trees and branches and causing storm surge of 2 to 4 feet in some areas across the region.
But for the most part, Beaufort was spared the worst of it. There was no flooding or major damage. Just a lot of tree debris to clean up from city streets and yards.
“The fact there is no flooding is pretty significant,” Neal Pugliese, a stormwater consultant with the city, said Thursday morning.
The storm tracked a bit to the west. That helped the city out in terms of impacts, Pugliese said. But he added that the city and Beaufort County prepared well.
“We predicted that the system was going to handle this storm and the system worked as designed,” said Pugliese, referring to the city’s storm water drainage facilities.
On Thursday, city crews were working to clear debris in public roadways and rights-of-way throughout the city, Public Works Director Nate Farrow said. That work will continue on Friday.
Residents were also out picking up tree limbs and the Spanish moss that Idalia winds shook loose from the city’s shaggy live oak trees.
Help with disposing of the debris is on the way.
The city announced Thursday that the Public Works Department will do a one-time sweep in Beaufort to pick up excess yard debris caused by the storm beginning Tuesday, Sept. 5, through Friday, Sept. 8.
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Yard debris must be placed next to the roadway by Tuesday morning, Sept. 5. Residents should not put the debris near or next to utility boxes or poles, fire hydrants or under tree canopies, the city said, because the department’s knuckle boom truck must be able to reach the debris.
Even during the storm, workers with the city and the South Carolina Department of Transportation sprung into action, removing fallen trees and limbs on Robert Smalls Parkway and public rights-of-way in residential areas.
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There’s been no major blockage of ditches and drains, Farrow said. Public Works cleaned out many of those areas before Tropical Storm Idalia came through Wednesday evening, leaving very little water accumulation on streets.
Power was knocked out in some areas which affected the traffic light at First Boulevard and Ribaut Road.
Capital Waste Services was planning to picking up trash and recycling from its Wednesday routes, which were canceled, on Thursday, the city said. It will pick up the Thursday routes on Friday, and complete Friday routes on Saturday.
