Hurricane Helene caused significant destruction in Douglas and Coffee County, damaging over 60 years’ worth of trees and vegetation and producing thousands of tons of debris. Coffee County has contracted independent companies to assist with the cleanup of debris from homes and yards. It is estimated that there are about 3 million cubic yards of debris to pick up, and as of December 16, 2024, only 1.7 million cubic yards had been collected.
“The debris cleanup from Helene is a massive undertaking. It will take multiple rounds over the next six months to clear all the trees and other debris,” states Douglas City Manager Charles Davis. “We know that many are eager to see the remnants of Helene removed; however, the extent of tree destruction in our community has been vast. We need residents to understand that Coffee County and its cities are the number 1 or 2 heaviest cleanups in history. We ask citizens to remain patient as the companies work to pick up the debris as efficiently as possible.”
Debris collection is expected to continue until approximately April 2025. The county and cities are divided into zones, with 1-3 trucks per zone. Debris removal companies are working to collect debris as quickly as possible, however, as residents and volunteers continue to clean yards and homes, additional debris is generated, requiring multiple rounds of pickup. The companies pick main routes, then secondary routes, and non-heavy-traveled roads. Stumps, construction/demolition, and piles contaminated with wire or other non-vegetative debris will all be the last to be picked.
Citizens and volunteers can assist with this process by ensuring that the debris piles placed next to the road are free from contamination and do not contain other types of trash. If the debris is not properly sorted, it slows the collection process, and the debris pile will not be picked up.
Debris should be sorted into six piles as follows:
- Tree trunks (log part of trees)
- Tree stumps
- Limbs and other vegetative debris
- Construction and demolition debris (boards, vinyl, roofing and etc.)
- White goods (washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers and etc.)
- Brown goods (sofas, furniture)
If you need more information about debris pickup, please call Public Works at (912) 389-3450. For normal leaf and limb-only pickup, please call (912) 384-3302, press 3, and speak to a Customer Service Specialist.