SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Clean-up from the tornado that struck a wealthy area of Longwood should be complete by the beginning of April, the Seminole County Director of Emergency Management said, after crews take a second pass through picking up vegetation debris.
The assessment does not include the time it will take to repair the homes that were damaged or, in one case, destroyed.
In an interview Monday, Alan Harris hailed the county’s effort, saying it was “unheard of” to have every road passable within an hour after a tornado tore through, which the county said it accomplished handily.
" If there is a debris pile and it’s all stacked together, we have to separate it. So it is taking a little bit longer because people are doing that. Some people are doing it the right way, putting vegetation in one area and construction debris in another area,” Harris said.
County crews continued to work long hours in the neighborhood that took the primary strike from the storm, including using heavy equipment to remove root balls and trunks from large Live Oak trees.
Harris said the recovery effort had been somewhat slowed by people mixing vegetative and construction debris, which needed to be picked up by two different crews.
He said unlike a hurricane, the county was not hiring external help.
Residents of the Whispering Winds community largely gave the county’s response to the storm positive reviews, which included increased patrols to stop scammers.
Harris said a few residents placed deposits to fake roofing companies in the storm’s aftermath and encouraged everyone to be extra careful about who they contracted with.
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