LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Several neighborhoods south of downtown Fort Myers in unincorporated Lee County must have their hurricane debris on the curb by Wednesday.
Those areas include Whiskey Creek, McGregor, Winkler Road corridor, Maravilla, Pine Manor, Page Park, Beacon Manor, Royal Tee, Burnt Store, Herons Glen, and Tara Woods.
The county is close to cleaning up almost six million cubic yards of debris. Some of that came from Joy and David Smith's home.
"Two feet all the way around the wall," Joy said about the flooding in her home. "I lost picture albums that were here that I had on the floor."
The couple, who has lived in Florida for the past 34 years, had to put a piece of their lives on the curb.
"I threw a corner cabinet away, a couple of things in the bedroom," Joy said. "A dresser and mirror that was attached that was probably cheap."
She put it on the curb a few days after Ian and says Lee County cleaned it up around the end of October.
"I think they're really cleaning up, I think they're really trying," Joy said.
Other people Fox 4 spoke with in the area under Wednesday's deadline disagree. Some said they got together with their neighbors after the storm and collected money to pay a private contractor to pick up debris.
A Lee County spokesperson says they don't know when all the debris will be picked up and some of the hardest hit areas include St. James City, Matlacha and San Carlos Island.
"I think they're been super good, I really do," Joy said. "It's a marvelous area and they're doing what they're supposed to be doing."
The spokesperson says they want to drive home several messages as another deadline approaches:
- Residents should return to normal trash collections after the debris deadline in their neighborhood.
- Ensure storm debris is separated from regular waste and not bagged.
- Debris from raw land clearing will not be accepted for collection.
- Make sure to separate your hurricane debris properly.
If you're not sure what is considered hurricane debris and how to separate it into piles, click here.
