Okeechobee County - Monday October 3, 2022: The Okeechobee Emergency Operations Center remains at Activation Level 2: Partial Activation focused on recovery efforts.
At 3:30 pm Monday, October 3, the Operations Center issued the following advisories:
• Waste Management:
- Normal Household Garbage Collection Services have resumed normal operations and will continue on your next scheduled collection day.
- Normal household garbage collection service will continue on your next scheduled collection day.
- Residents must place hurricane related debris separate from normal household waste curbside.
* Hurricane Debris Collection:
- The County’s contracted provider will begin collecting hurricane debris next week, on Monday, October 10, in the southwest and southeast sections of the County.
- All vegetation must be no more than six (6) foot in length and neatly stacked on the City or County Right-of-Way.
- DO NOT MIX HOUSEHOLD WASTE, CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS, FURNITURE OR APPLIANCES WITH VEGETATION.
- All construction debris (roofing materials, wood, insulation, siding, metal, carpet, and other related items) displaced by the hurricane must be no more than eight (8) foot in length and neatly stacked on the City or County Right-of-Way.
- Separate all large items (appliances and furniture) from household garbage, vegetation, and construction debris materials. Please remove all appliance doors to prevent a danger of suffocation to children.
- Do not place any debris on or near fences, mailboxes, low hanging power lines, power poles, water meters, fire hydrants, phone boxes or under low hanging trees. Hazardous Waste items such as paint, oil, chemicals, batteries, tires, auto parts, boat parts or any related items WILL NOT be collected.
- Debris will not be collected by Okeechobee County on federal or state roadways as well as on private roadways within the County (as provided by FEMA).
- RESIDENTS MUST HAVE ALL HURRICANE DEBRIS ON THE COUNTY RIGHT-OF-WAY NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 9, 2022. Disposal of any debris after completion of this process will be the responsibility of the property owner.
Contact Russell Rowland, Okeechobee County Special Projects Coordinator/Solid Waste, if you have any questions concerning hurricane debris collection at 863-763-1811.
• Power is restored throughout most of the county. FPL is reporting full restoration and Glades Electric Cooperative reports less than 100 members out of power.
• Treasure Coast Food Bank is scheduled to have a distribution at the Okeechobee Agri-Civic Center on Tuesday, October 4, beginning at 8am.
• All County and City parks are open to the public.
• Damage assessment teams are moving through the county to document damages. They may be taking pictures or asking questions of residents. These assessments are vital for recovery efforts with the county.
• Okeechobee County is asking residents to send in photos of damage on their property (home or business) by going to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OkeeDamage.
• The Information Call Line will be open at the Okeechobee County Library from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday by calling 863-763-3536.
• For continued updates follow us on: Facebook: Okeechobee Emergency-Management or Okeechobee County Government; Okeechobee County Website: www.co.okeechobee.fl.us