Charlotte County temporarily suspends canal debris clean-up efforts

Reporter: Tiffany Rizzo Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:

Getting debris out of the canals is a lot harder than clearing it from land. Crews have been clearing debris from canals in Charlotte County, but right now, the effort is on hold and not because of the holidays.

The effort is on hold while the county works out a new clean-up deal that should be finalized by January 10.

Charlotte County debris clean up map. (Credit: Charlotte County)

This map, provided by the county, shows all the areas where there is still debris three months after Ian. What you see in red has yet to be touched. One of those spots is in Port Charlotte.

That is where WINK News met with Kevin Prendergast, who lives along a canal, and asked him what still needs to be picked up.

“Everything from screens, you see the pool cage. There’s pool cages in the water, there’s people’s roofs that blew off there’s one that is starting to protrude from the water right now. There’s a big piece of plywood, there’s siding. This is a boat cage. The skeleton-looking thing is a lift cover,” said Prendergast.

Charlotte County canal debris. (Credit: WINK News)

A lot of debris in the water near Prendergast’s home he cleaned up himself. “I have suffered damage to my truck, damage to my boat, damage to my house, damage to my property, damage to the boat lift.”

Prendergast has a long list of things he still has to do, so taking his boat out is the farthest thing from his mind.

Ed Hickey is another neighbor who won’t put his boat in the water right now. “That’s the real tricky part is it’s so dark, you can’t tell what’s underneath and the way the water moves, you just never know what’s going to be moving in your way. So even if you went through, and everything was fine. The next time you go through it, the conditions change.”

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