- October 19, 2022
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Manatee County will still be cleaning up from this year’s hurricane season when next year’s season begins on June 1.
The Stormwater Division is dealing with over 700 downed trees, and the Traffic Operations Division has approximately 18,000 road signs to either repair or replace.
“It took us nine months to clean up after Hurricane Ian,” said Zach Custer, a supervisor in the Stormwater Division. “This one’s going to far exceed it.”
On Nov. 7, a stormwater crew was clearing three downed trees from a canal in The Concession. That was one of 375 work orders the department is still contending with since Hurricane Milton, the last in a chain of three hurricanes, that touched down on Oct. 9.
Some jobs are easier than others. If a canal is accessible, a grapple truck can extend its claw down and pluck up to 16,000 pounds of debris out of a canal with no trouble at all.
In the Concession, a grapple truck was too large to reach the remote area where a group of fallen pine trees was blocking a canal.
County employees also had to work around private property to reach the trees. If the equipment leaves ruts in the grass, the county has to pay to replace it. So the crew of four men drove two ATVs down a horse path into the woods, getting as close to the downed trees as possible.
But they had to leave that path and clear a new one. Technician Orlando Buexcuda cut up a fallen tree with a chainsaw, while the rest of the crew moved the stumps out of the ATVs' path.
When they reached the canal, the crew repeated that same exercise three times over, except this time, the ATVs had to be used to hoist the pine trees out of the canal. The winch attached to the ATVs can pull up to 1,000 pounds. If used with a pulley, it can pull up to 2,000 pounds.
After the men attached a pulley to a pine tree that was still standing on the edge of the canal, the massive logs were dragged to the banks, where they will remain.
Field Maintenance Superintendent Scott Chapman said the Southwest Florida Water Management District dictates how the debris is handled. In this case, the order was to remove the blockage and leave the debris on the banks.
The stormwater division has 61 workers, divided into five crews that cover the entire county. On an average month, they receive anywhere from 50 to 100 work orders.
The crew is naturally busier during the rainy season, but before and after a hurricane, they’re in overdrive. The division handles sandbag operations before a hurricane hits, and the crews are first on the streets after it passes.
“We have our first-in teams that actually open the roads up for the first responders,” Chapman said.
In the first couple weeks following Hurricane Milton, Chapman and Custer said the crew was working anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day. The work orders peaked at 398. The employees are still working overtime, but for the most part, it’s settled into a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule that also includes weekends.
While most of the water blockages in East county are due to downed trees, trees are not the only items being removed from canals around the county.
A crew removed a 12-foot-by-12-foot shed from a canal near the coast last week. The shed was still intact, but had been blown 20 feet away from where it originally stood.
Traffic Operations crews finished repairs on nearly 3,000 stop signs last week. Manatee County has an inventory of about 60,000 road signs in total.
The staff is 95% complete with county repairs, but that doesn’t include anything owned by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Traffic Operations Division Manager Aaron Burkett said FDOT repairs are just beginning.
Similarly to the Stormwater Division, Traffic Operations are among the first crews back on the streets after a hurricane.
Burkett said the “first sweep” is to ensure that all major intersections are safe. If a traffic signal isn’t working, the crews put up stop signs. They also remove any traffic lights or signs that are obstructing the roads.
After that’s done, the staff of 30 assesses and prioritizes all the roads. Burkett said Hurricane Helene gave the team two weeks worth of work. After Hurricane Milton hit, the assessment alone took a full week.
At first glance, the intersection at State Road 64 where Lakewood Ranch Boulevard meets Upper Manatee River Road seems to be in good working order. The traffic lights are all in a row and changing with the traffic flow. Plus, the green street signs are still intact.
As Burkett walked toward the intersection, he pointed out an illuminated street sign that was smashed in the grass and quite a few other problems that the average passerby might not notice so easily.
After looking at the way the traffic lights were hanging, Burkett said there was damage to the top span wire, a spreader bar was broken and all the weight of the signals was being placed on the bottom messenger cable.
He said that one intersection alone will take two teams of two a full day to repair, and over 745 street lights across the county were damaged.
Burkett expects the work on county-owned traffic signs and signals to be wrapped up by the end of this week, but he estimates that FDOT repairs will continue into mid December.
Street signs are on the bottom of the priority list. The bulk of those won't be repaired or replaced until the middle of next year.
