HOLMES BEACH – The hurricane-related substantial damage assessments have been completed in Holmes Beach and the debris removal efforts continue.
On Nov. 15, Superintendent of Public Works and City Engineer Sage Kamiya and Director of Development Services and Planning and Zoning Administrator Chad Minor shared a statistical update of the efforts completed and still taking place in Holmes Beach.
According to Minor, the substantial damage assessments were completed on Nov. 12 by 20 two-person teams provided by a mission request fulfilled by the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM). The damage assessment team was contracted by FDEM using AC Disaster Consulting. The Crisis Track damage assessment software application used by Manatee County was used to collect and record the residential and commercial damage in Holmes Beach.
The damage assessment team assessed 3,331 structures. Four structures were deemed destroyed, 243 structures were deemed to have major damage, 217 were deemed to have minor damage and 2,867 structures were deemed affected by Hurricane Helene and/or Hurricane Milton.
The assessed damage to residential structures totaled approximately $334 million and assessed damage to commercial structures totaled $17.6 million.
According to Minor, the AC Disaster Consulting firm is now moving to Bradenton Beach to assist with the damage assessments to be done there. He noted Holmes Beach’s building department staff has been working with the Bradenton Beach Building Official Darin Cushing to help train and set up the Crisis Track users that will assist with that damage assessment data collection.
“Holmes Beach staff will continue to support Bradenton Beach as needed,” Minor stated.
BUILDING DEPARTMENT
Since Sept. 27, the day after Hurricane Helene, the building department has issued 544 permits, 433 for hurricane recovery work. The building department has been open for extended hours, including on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., to help residents and businesses apply for and obtain the building permits needed for their recovery work. That work must be permitted and documented to ensure the city remains in compliance with FEMA National Flood Insurance Program requirements and maintains the city’s Community Rating System rating that provides property owners with discounted flood insurance rates.
“The building department, building official and city planner will continue to meet daily with homeowners and businesses to assist them in navigating the FEMA 50% rule, and to ensure they are aware and understand their options as they move forward and begin the recovery/mitigation process,” Minor stated.
DEBRIS REMOVAL
Significant progress has been made and the debris removal efforts continue throughout the city. According to Kamiya, the city and its contracted debris haulers removed 19,786 cubic yards (784 truckloads) of vegetative debris, 58,423 cubic yards (2,384 loads) of construction and demolition debris and 27,265 cubic yards (1,152 loads) of sand as of Nov. 14. According to Kamiya, 105,475 cubic yards of debris have been removed from city roadways and rights of ways.
“This is nearly 20 football fields 3 feet deep of debris,” he noted.
The collected debris is first moved to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection-approved debris management site at City Field, where it’s crushed, loaded on to tractor trailers and hauled to the county landfill.
Sand is being hauled to the county-approved debris management site in the Coquina Beach parking lot, where the county is sifting out the debris before the sand is returned to the Island beaches.
City personnel have been hand-clearing the small debris left behind by the removal trucks. They are also straightening and replacing traffic signs and signals, sweeping streets, picking up city parks, vacuuming stormwater pipes and working with local fishermen to remove canal debris.
“The final day for moving storm-related debris to the roadside is Nov. 25. Anything moved out after that will need to meet the non-emergency, regular waste pickup requirements which can be found on the city’s website or by contacting code compliance,” Kamiya stated. “This entire removal process is expected to be completed by the end of December.”
