Hurricane Helene and Milton Cleanup: Pinellas County Requests Disaster Merger

 The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners has asked the federal government to combine the damage caused by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton into one disaster. They expect the government to approve this request soon.

Kathleen Peters, the Chair of the Board, made the announcement on Oct. 13 while standing with President Joe Biden during his visit to St. Pete Beach. Peters explained that combining the two storms would help the cleanup process.

“Can you imagine if we had to separate the debris from each storm?” Peters said. “‘This is Helene debris, and this is Milton debris.’ It would be impossible to do that quickly and correctly.”

Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s Gulf Coast less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused a huge storm surge, leading to major flooding. Milton brought strong winds and added more damage to what Helene had already done, mixing the debris from both storms together.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had already started cleanup efforts after Helene, sending the National Guard and other state agencies to help local officials. But not all areas were cleaned up before Milton arrived.

Peters believes that merging the storms into one disaster will help speed up the recovery process. “Merging the two disasters will cut through a lot of red tape and make the recovery faster,” Peters said. “I’m looking forward to hearing that this will be approved soon.”

At the federal level, President Biden has agreed to cover 100 percent of the cost for debris removal across Florida for 90 days, which is not something that usually happens. Governor DeSantis said on Oct. 12 that local governments should take full advantage of this help and move the debris quickly.

At the state level, Governor DeSantis and Kevin Guthrie, head of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, have removed all rules related to debris removal. This allows the state to work faster without worrying about permits or limits on trucking and other services.

Guthrie told Floridians who were impacted by multiple storms to keep each storm separate when applying for help from FEMA. He said that if people mix information about different storms in one application, it could cause problems with FEMA’s system.

“When you file your application, only talk about one storm,” Guthrie said on Oct. 13. “If you mix storms in your application, it could delay your help.”

As of now, there has been no official response from Peters’s office or FEMA about when the disaster merger might be approved or how it will work.