Debris from tornado being removed from water in Bayou George area

BAYOU GEORGE, Fla. ( WMBB ) — Some Bay County waterways are still clogged with debris from January’s tornadoes. Bay County and Northwest Florida Water Management District officials started the clean-up process on Thursday.

“After Hurricane Michael, we had tree debris, but after the tornado, we had so much debris from houses, from garages, from carports, from workshops and a lot of that just landed in the water,” Bayou George resident Nancy Gibson said.

Bayou George was one of the worst areas after a tornado outbreak on January 9th. Local officials and residents have been having trouble finding the money to clean out the waterways. Then, the Northwest Florida Water Management District stepped in with $35,000.

“We’re grateful to be able to help the community for the damage that was done, and that’s what we do, and the governor allows us to have the money to be able to participate in these programs,” Northwest Florida Water Management District Chairman George Roberts said.

“The Water Management District planted over a million longleaf pine trees, which is going to help again with the absorption of the water out of the water table,” Bay County Commissioner Doug Moore said. “We’ve got citizens who are experiencing flooding in areas that they never did before and so being able to clean out these waterways, we’ll be able to assist with that.”

Crews are collecting debris from about 1,400 linear feet behind Sunshine Drive and then debris will be taken to the Steelfield Landfill.

“Some of the neighbors and I’ve been working really hard, reaching out to different government agencies and also reaching out to some of our legislators to try and get this work done. So we’re so excited that we have some money in the budget through the county and that the cleanup is happening,” Gibson said.

Work should be completed within a week. County officials say this is the first in a series of several storm debris cleanups.

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