Hurricane Ian

Ground Zero Eco Clean-up

(ABOVE: Photo of STYROFOAM inside of the Wildflower Preserve, Englewood Florida)
One of the most destructive hurricanes in American History hit Florida, September 28, 2022.

AFTER IAN
The first priority was the rescue of people and animals.
Second was moving the rubble aside for safety.
Third was trying to get our homes together.
Fourth, catch our breath and comfort each other.
And finally fifth, focus on the environmental disaster aftermath, as building materials have been blown into the mangroves and waterways. 

After the first couple of weeks after Ian, neighborhood rubble and building materials from yards and streets eventually began moving to roadsides for pickup. For homes that had eater leaks, but were still standing, were gutted as mold quickly spread throughout the drywall and attics. Piles of drywall and fiberglass were added to roadside rubbish. There they sit, week after week through rain and winds. Unfortunately, resources for pickup crews are lacking, and understandably so! Emergency crew resources have rightly been on urgent home recovery since Ian! People have genuinely been devastated and left in great need. Trailer parks were decimated. People lost everything. 

Consequently, there have not been enough resources to remove the rubble along roadsides throughout the worst hit neigborhoods. 

A SECOND HIT
Then, what everyone feared, happened. Hurricane Nicole hit November 10, 2022 before full recovery! Luckily the winds and rain only reached Tropical Storm category in this area, BUT, the winds and rain further damaged half-renovated homes! It was like starting over for some poeple. And many people had to put in another  More workers were and still are needed to help.

The tropical winds blew the piles of roadside debri further into the environment.

It’s now November 21st, 2022 and the roadside piles of debri are still lining the streets. (BELOW: Placida Road, Englwood Fl.) 

Some litter and building materials are heavy and are staying in place until pick-up arrives. But other building materials are causing havoc that will not be recovered fully. STYROFOAM is one of the worst offenders.

The founders of Endangered Species 2050 are putting their focus on STYROFOAM cleanup. Carmen & Benny spent time volunteering cleanup for Lemon Creek Conservancy, and have made Wildflower Preserve the focus of their clean up effort.

Unbelievable amounts of STYROFOAM has been blown into the mangroves and bushes surrounding the preserve lakes and ponds. Broken chunks and tiny pieces have been dispersed throughout the grasslands and shorlines. Impossible to get it all. Tough to pick up as well, because the tiny pieces break off in your hands if you are not gentle.

BELOW: Left: Roadside loose pile waiting pickup, mostly STYROFOAM.  Middle: STYROFOAM on pond shoreline and on the water.  Right: STYROFOAM floating on water & packed into bushes.

BELOW PHOTOS: Left: Carmen bagging STYROFOAM from a waterway. Right: Carmen removing strips of roofing from mangroves so she can get to the piles of STYROFOAM deep inside the bushes. 

EndangeredSpecies2050 is donating large 95-gallon clear plastic bags to help secure the loose debris.

BELOW: Left: Carmen with clear bag

CLEANUP TIPS: Top priority is to secure the loads of loose roadside STYROFOAM before the next storm hits. Recovered STYROFOAM from the lakes and bush need to be bagged so that they are not reblown into the groves. NEXT get it all out of the waterways and mangroves! Styrofoam can waterlog and sink. The teeny tiny pieces can be scooped with a leaf pool scoop, and gently swept up and raked from the dirt and bagged. But rakind DOES not get the tiny little balls of styrofoam which have blown and settled throughout the area.

UPDATE 2024 from Carmen –  “Wildflower Preserve is doing very well! Many volunteers from near and far pitched in to help with the cleanup.
I, however, do know that there are millions of broken bits of styrofoam througout the wetlands that will never be able to be cleaned up :(“