CLEARWATER, Fla. — As Milton approaches, debris cleanup from Helene is a major concern for a lot of people.

What You Need To Know

  • Governor DeSantis issues state of emergency ahead of Milton | Watch Sunday PM news conference 

  • Crews across Tampa Bay are still picking up debris from Hurricane Helene

  • In Clearwater, officials said it's taking about 30 minutes to clean the debris from each home

On Saturday night, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for 51 counties, including all counties in the Spectrum Bay News 9 viewing area.

Additionally, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Transportation have been ordered to coordinate all available resources.

This will help local communities in the debris removal process.

Currently, crews around the Tampa Bay area working around the clock to pick up what people have put on the side of the road.

Kervin St. Aimie, the solid waste director for the city of Clearwater, said they are making progress in their cleanup but it is slow going because of how many homes they need to visit.

“The crew for solid waste has been working 12, 10 hours a day,” he said. “We’re trying to do the best we can.”

Aimie said that for each home, it's taking about 30 minutes to finish cleanup.

There’s no timeline for when they’ll get to everyone but he’s asking for people to remain patient as they’re doing the best they can.

“We want to make sure we pick those items up and get that hazard off the street,” he said. “It creates an issue for storm drains and so forth, so we want to work as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, because of the volume, it’s going to take some time.”

Clearwater officials said there are no plans to change the pickup process as Milton approaches.

If changes come, that would be announced on Monday.