Flood victims to get free debris pickup from county

The sheer number of homes flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew has prompted Horry County officials to expand free curbside pickup to include household debris pulled from the dwellings.

Officials are still discussing the protocol and pickup times for flooded homes and how homeowners will be notified. They expect to have a plan together by the end of the week, said Steve Gosnell, assistant county administrator.

Gosnell told the county council Tuesday that 400 to 500 homes were flooded in the days following the hurricane, and that pick up would occur one time only in neighborhoods impacted by flooding in unincorporated Horry County.

“It’s just too much,” Gosnell said. “Basically, what we see in the field is the quantity is just too much, we believe, for property owners to handle.”

Residents affected by last year’s record rainstorm and flooding were responsible for hauling their own debris to area recycling centers and landfill.

In addition to debris from flooded homes, the county has begun the process of free curbside pickup for wooded debris from downed trees.

That damage was so extensive countywide that two pickup sweeps will be conducted..

Most of those pickups are still occurring in the hardest hit area along the coast, but will expand inland in the coming weeks.

The wooded debris is taken to a tract of land near the Material Recycling Facility off S.C. 90, and ground into wood chips for use as ground cover or possible resale as fuel.

A debris management hotline has been created to answer questions about pickups, and can be reached at (843) 340-9536.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Flood victims to get free debris pickup from county."