Racing to remove hurricane-related debris from Cape Coral canals by 2024

Reporter: Elizabeth Biro Writer: Paul Dolan
Published: Updated:
debris
Hurricane Ian debris in Cape Coral canal. CREDIT: WINK News

Cape Coral is putting the finishing touches on debris removal in its canals to have everything pristine by the end of the year.

After Hurricane Ian, the canals looked a bit dingy, littered with debris and junk from the forceful storm surge.

Crews from Ceres Environmental focused on a particular area on Friday, and as a result, the canal is debris-free. WINK News drove up and down Cape Coral on Friday, and every canal we checked looked similar, or even better than the one crews cleaned Friday.

It’s the level of cleanness the Murphy’s wished for after Ian.

“Well, there were trees crossing it. You couldn’t get through either side; there were trees down at both ends. So it was quite a mess,” said Michael Murphy.

Michael waited months for crews to clear away all of the debris. On Friday, you could see clear water and plenty of fish in the now clean environment.

Noel Skeete, who has lived in Cape Coral for 19 years, has the same report in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

“There was a large area here where all of these trees had fallen over here and actually they block in the canal so they remove all of that,” said Skeete.

In the last 13 months, Cape Coral has removed 750,000 cubic yards of debris. A significantly larger number in contrast to a normal year, which yields about 29,000 cubic yards.

Their final stages are focused on the northern part of Cape Coral, with the goal to have all hurricane-related material out by the end of 2023. A look around the waterways shows that goal is definitely within reach.

If there’s debris in your canal and you can remove it, Cape Coral says go right ahead. For any major problems, call 311 or use the 311 Cape Coral app and someone will come out to you.

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