Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Isaias, a lot of Gulf Breeze streets still have a curb line of oak limbs, wet fencing and torn screen. The storm came ashore near Destin late on Friday, Oct. 9, as a Category 2, according to WUWF's rolling coverage. On the peninsula, the hard part now is getting the debris picked up.
Whether your pile gets collected depends on who is collecting on your street. Inside the incorporated City of Gulf Breeze, the City's contractor follows the City's rules. Elsewhere on the peninsula, Santa Rosa County's crews follow the County's rules. The two rulebooks differ on limb size, bags and where you can haul debris yourself. A pile built for one can sit through a pass by the other.
Two crews, two start dates
The City says its debris contractor, CWR, was set to start organized collection on Tuesday, Oct. 13. Santa Rosa County's first pass started the next day, Wednesday, Oct. 14, on publicly maintained roads. Both say it will take more than one pass.
The workloads are very different in size. In its Oct. 12 recovery update, the City reported an initial inspection of 118 homes: 9 with major damage, 48 with minor damage and 61 classified as affected. The County's Hurricane Isaias Update #14, posted Oct. 15, estimated about 1.5 million cubic yards of debris countywide and $23 million to remove it. As of that day, self-reported damage totaled $165 million from more than 2,500 reports. The City's contractor works only inside the city limits, while the County's crews cover the whole county. That difference in ground shapes how soon a second pass is likely to reach a given street.
Mayor JB Schluter put the City's situation this way in the release: "Recovery will take time, especially with the amount of tree damage across the City."
Where your pile goes and how to build it
Here are the two sets of instructions as each government published them. The City's are from its Oct. 12 release and the County's are from Update #14 on Oct. 15.
| City of Gulf Breeze | Santa Rosa County | |
|---|---|---|
| Collection began | Tues., Oct. 13, by CWR | Wed., Oct. 14, on publicly maintained roads |
| Where to put it | Along the roadside, never in the roadway | On the public right-of-way, the strip between the street and the sidewalk, ditch, utility pole or easement |
| Limb size | Cut to fit the contractor's large clam trucks | No size restriction |
| Bags | Not addressed | No plastic bags; loose debris or paper bags only |
| Sorting | Vegetative debris kept apart from construction materials, roof shingles, household garbage and other nonvegetative debris | Vegetative and C&D in separate piles, with fencing and sheds named as C&D |
| Keep clear of | Overhead power lines, fire hydrants, sidewalks, traffic, stormwater inlets | Ditches, storm drains, mailboxes, water meters, hydrants, low limbs, power lines, transformers |
The limb rule causes the most trouble. A County resident can put a limb at the curb at whatever length it fell. A City resident has to cut it down to clam-truck size first. The County's plastic-bag ban hits leaves and small branches, which are exactly what people tend to bag. Both lists keep piles away from storm drains and inlets, which matters on a low peninsula where rain still needs somewhere to go.
If you aren't sure which side of the line you live on, City Hall is at 850-934-5100. The County's Citizen Information Line is 850-983-4636.
The free drop-off window that closed Saturday
The difference matters most if you'd rather haul debris yourself than wait for the next pass. Each government set up its own free option.
The City opened the Gulf Breeze Transfer Station at 325 S. Sunset Blvd. free of charge from Tuesday, Oct. 13, through Saturday, Oct. 17, during regular hours. It was only for residents inside the incorporated city limits and was closed to non-City customers during that recovery period. That window ended on Saturday, Oct. 17. Check the City's site for whether it was extended before you load a truck.
The County's offer has no posted end date. Its Oct. 15 update says Santa Rosa County residents can drop off vegetative debris for free at the Central Landfill, 6337 Da Lisa Road in Milton, Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. That's a long drive from the peninsula with a trailer full of branches. Still, if your street has already had one pass and you have more limbs coming down, the landfill is the open option. The County's update doesn't mention free drop-off for C&D debris, so call before you haul fencing or shingles.
Private streets and the "public right-of-way" wording
One sentence in the County's update matters a lot for some neighborhoods. "Only storm debris placed along the public right-of-way is currently eligible for collection." The first pass is limited to publicly maintained roads. The update doesn't say how streets owned by a homeowners association or a gated community will be handled. If your street is private, call the County information line and your HOA before you drag everything to the curb and assume a county truck is coming.
The same instruction covers debris that's still there after the first pass. Keep it sorted, keep it reachable and leave it for the next pass. If a pile gets mixed together while you wait, it's harder to collect.
Garbage, tree hazards and mosquitoes
Both governments say household trash runs on a separate track from storm debris. The City says regular garbage service is resuming. Put your cans where crews can see and reach them, which takes some planning when a debris pile already fills the curb. The County asks people to put spoiled food from refrigerators and freezers in regular garbage containers, never in storm debris.
Some of what's left to clean up is still in the trees. With schools reopening on Oct. 14, the City's Parks and Recreation Department began marking hazardous trees along bus routes, public streets and sidewalks. The City says never to try removing a tree or limb tangled in a power line. The County adds a reminder about the standing water those piles and yards hold. Drain kayaks, containers, tires and gutters when it's safe, because even a small amount of water can breed mosquitoes.
Before you pay someone to haul it
Once the debris is gone, the repair work starts, and so do the knocks on the door. Santa Rosa County Building Inspections posted a contractor warning on Oct. 15. It asks residents to:
- Check a contractor's license with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
- Be cautious about unsolicited door-to-door offers and high-pressure pitches.
- Avoid paying the full cost upfront.
- Get the agreement in writing.
- Check whether roofing, electrical or structural repairs need a permit by calling Building Inspections at 850-981-7000.
If you can't pay for help, the County lists Crisis Cleanup at 1-800-451-1954. Through that line, the BRACE partnership connects residents with volunteer groups that may help with tarping, tree removal and debris cleanup. Inside the city, the Gulf Breeze Community Center at 800 Shoreline Drive has bottled water, up to 3 cases per household per day, and tarps while supplies last. The County also asks every property owner to report damage through the Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser. Look up your parcel and use the "Report Damage" button under Owner Information. You can give a rough repair estimate or wait until you have a better number. All of this is general information, not legal, insurance or financial advice. Check the specifics of your property and your policy with the right professional.
Where you can get outside, by the same city-county split
Parks are split along the same line. The County's Oct. 14 update closed every county park. By Oct. 15, all county parks not on its closed list had reopened, apart from roped-off caution areas. Among the sites the County still lists as closed:
- Oriole Beach Boat Ramp
- Sandpiper Village Park
- Navarre Pier, which the County says was damaged and is closed until further notice
That list only covers county parks. For Shoreline Park and other city-run sites, check the City's own updates. Naval Live Oaks is federal land with its own rules. The National Park Service's conditions page lists it, along with Fort Pickens and Opal Beach, as "closed until further notice" in an alert posted Oct. 12. For road closures on the County's side, see the County's road and bridge closures page, which it keeps current.
If storm damage has you thinking about repairs, insurance or what Isaias means for your home's value, Malinda Metzger knows how recovery on this peninsula plays out and is happy to talk it through with you, neighbor to neighbor. Schedule Your Free Local Market Consultation.
