New Dashboard Tracks Hurricane Debris Cleanup Across Walton County
Freeport residents waiting on debris trucks can now watch Hurricane Isaias cleanup progress online. Walton County launched a new Debris Removal Dashboard on Monday that tracks how much storm debris has been collected countywide and roughly how far along each of the county’s eight cleanup zones stands.
The dashboard, provided by monitoring contractor Tetra Tech, pairs a map of the county’s collection zones with running totals: the estimated debris volume, the amount picked up so far, a percent-complete gauge and a day-by-day chart of how many cubic yards crews are hauling. The county posted the tool at its official storm-recovery link, bit.ly/IsaiasDebrisUpdate.
As of late Monday morning — the dashboard’s data carried an 11:45 a.m. update stamp — the county estimated Hurricane Isaias left about 250,000 cubic yards of debris to collect, and 33,664 cubic yards had been picked up, or 13.5 percent of the total. Crews are roughly a week into the curbside operation that began Oct. 14, with DRC Emergency Services trucks working all eight zones simultaneously.
The county cautions that debris removal runs on established routes and specialized equipment, so the tracker is meant for general progress updates rather than guarantees of specific pickup dates or times. Officials have asked residents to be patient with what the county calls “a very long process,” the same message Walton County Emergency Management has delivered since pickup began: trucks will make multiple passes down every road in the county rather than a single sweep.
The operation covers the whole map — incorporated cities such as Freeport alongside unincorporated areas, public roadways and private or gated communities, the county said. The sorting rules haven’t changed: debris should be left loose and unbagged at the curb, where grapple-equipped trucks can grab it, because crews skip bagged piles.
Originally reported by WJHG Newschannel 7, with additional details from the Walton County debris removal update. Image: Walton County Debris Removal Dashboard.
