Debris Removal Update - Contractor Finishing First Pass on All Streets
As of Sunday, January 17, 2021, over 186,000 cubic yards of debris has been removed from the streets of Diamondhead in 35 days of operation. We originally estimated that the city had about 120,000 cubic yards of debris to be removed. We have surpassed that number and are expecting to be over 200,000 cubic yards by the time everything is removed from the streets. Our contractor has been working 11 hours a day, 7 days a week to clean our beautiful city.
As of today, the contractor is almost finished making the first pass on all the 82 miles of streets in Diamondhead. So, this is a tremendous achievement given the amount of debris on the streets from Hurricane Zeta. Every road in the city has been picked up at least one time. If you live on a street that has not been touched, please contact the receptionist at City Hall at 228-222-4626 or email the City Manager at mreso@diamondhead.ms.gov to provide your address. We will come look at it immediately and get that corrected if it has been accidently missed.
The contractor has also completed their work with cutting damaged trees and hanging limbs. This debris will be picked up on the 2nd pass.
The contractor will begin the 2nd round on all streets starting Monday. This will take about one week and expected to be completed by Sunday, January 24, 2021. Once the 2nd round is complete, the contractor will make a final pass on all streets to complete their work in Diamondhead starting on Monday, February 1. We expect all debris removal work to be completed by February 5, 2021 in the City of Diamondhead.
If you still have debris to put onto the street, residents are reminded to separate their debris into two piles. One is only vegetation, and the other everything else. Vegetative debris goes to one landfill at a much lower cost per cubic yard while C&D debris goes to another landfill for a higher price. If a truck passes that is picking up only vegetative debris, a C&D or mixed pile will be skipped until another truck looking for that type of debris passes. If you have black garbage bags, it is recommended to put those next to your garbage can since Waste Management will pick that up on your regular garbage pick-up day.
Finally, please finish putting any remaining debris on the street by next Sunday, January 31th, so the contractor can finish the work as scheduled. Debris placed within the road right of way after this date will be the responsibility of the homeowner to properly dispose of.
Thank you for your patience during this process. The City Council is currently advertising to pre-arrange the contracts needed for future storms. This way we can begin this clean up work faster. These pre-arranged contracts should all be secured prior to the next hurricane season in June.
