Osceola County Extends Emergency Declaration
Published on: Sep 22, 2017
PR17-66
2 Bridges Closed in Rural East Osceola County
Osceola County, Florida – Osceola County Commissioners extended a Declaration of Local Emergency for seven additional days during an emergency meeting Thursday (September 21).
The extension allows the county to access additional resources needed because of the effects of the storm.
After Hurricane Irma’s passage through the region, Osceola County immediately launched recovery operations, including mobilizing its debris contractor to begin neighborhood pickup on Sunday (September 17).
Because of storm events in Texas and Florida, it is expected to take time for crews to ramp up, officials say. As an added convenience to residents the county has opened two drop-off sites for residents – one at the old Southport Landfill, 4400 Hunt Road, and another at 2350 Canoe Creek Road in St. Cloud.
While the drop-off sites are free to citizens, identification is required. Citizens may use their driver’s license or any billing statement which includes their home address. The sites are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day of the week, but are available for residential use only. Businesses will be turned away.
Vegetative debris includes trees, branches, logs, etc. Construction debris includes fencing, shingles, siding, lumber, etc. Please be sure to keep vegetative debris and construction debris separated.
Call the “Debris Hotline” at 855-866-5650 if you have questions about the process. Regularly scheduled curbside service resumed this week but service may be slow because of the volume of residential waste in the wake of Irma.
Additionally, Osceola County is planning aerial mosquito spraying as a result of the standing water left by Irma. As of Thursday, Shingle Creek had receded several feet below its historic Irma high water mark and was heading below “flood stage.” (Link: http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=mlb&gage=shif1). Osceola’s shelters that housed primarily residents from Good Samaritan Village closed on Tuesday.
Also on Thursday, the County announced the closing of two bridges on a stretch of rural road in East Osceola County. County Road 419, also known as Deer Park Road, is closed because of repairs needed to Pennywash and Wolf creek bridges. The road is located between U.S. Highway 192 and Nova Road, and traverses the Deseret Ranch. An inspection of the bridges found that they had incurred significant structural damage in the days after the storm. It is not known at this time how long repairs will take.
Community Centers and Parks update
Community Centers in Narcoossee, BVL (Robert Guevara), Kenansville, Holopaw and Marydia are open.
The following parks are open: Brownie Wise Park at Tupperware Island, Lake Runnymede Conservation Area, Waters Edge Neighborhood Park, Archie Gordon Memorial Park, BVL Community Park, Neptune Middle School Sports Fields, Partin Triangle Neighborhood Park, Oren Brown Community Park, Hickory Tree Community Park, Royal Palm Neighborhood Park, Holopaw Neighborhood Park, Scotty’s Cove Conservation Area, 65th Infantry Veterans Park and Makinson Island.
The following parks are closed: Twin Oaks Conservation Area, Camp Lonesome Conservation Area, Lake Lizzie Conservation Area, Cherokee Point Conservation Area and most of Shingle Creek Regional Park, except for the location on Bass Road.
For more information regarding the county’s post-Irma efforts please go to recovery.osceola.org