LEHIGH ACRES
If you live in Lehigh Acres or Gateway, Friday is Lee County’s pickup deadline for hurricane debris in those areas.
Lee County has collected more than 4.4 million cubic yards of debris so far; that’s around 85 times as big as the U.S. Capitol rotunda.
Driving around Lehigh Acres on Friday morning, most of the immense piles of debris left after Hurricane Ian cleanup began are gone, but one can still see some vegetation debris in front of homes. Three months after the Category 4 devastation, things are starting to look cleaned up.
In an old contract, the county paid $5 per mile per truckload to haul debris outside county lines. But in October, Lee County had a new contract that hiked the rate up to $40 per mile.
Before putting out your storm debris for the deadline, remember to sort it into four separate piles: electronic waste, construction debris, vegetation and appliances.
Lehigh Acres resident Kenny Fraser says he saw most of his neighborhood’s debris get picked up already.
“I think we are doing good because, like I said, on my block there was hardly any debris left; most of it was picked up earlier this week,” Fraser said. “It’s good everybody will have a merry Christmas without any eyesores.”
WINK NEWS