Hurricane Recovery
Six in 10 Milton Structures Damaged as City Faces $30 Million Public Cleanup
City Manager Ed Spears says the storm hit the inland city harder than the coast, and the debris work is only one-fourth done.
Damage Assessments
About 60% of the Structures in the city of Milton sustained some type of damage from the hurricane, City Manager Ed Spears told me on Rick’s Blog Live a week after the storm. Roughly 5 percent of those buildings will be uninhabitable when recovery is finished.
The city remains under its emergency declaration. Spears said crews have assessed all six square miles of Milton.
“It’s very reminiscent of [Hurricane] Ivan. There’s not a single property that doesn’t have something you see: a tree down, a fence down, a sign torn up, or damage to the structure itself.”
Milton by the numbers
- $30 million to $35 million: early estimate of public sector damage in the city
- $25 million: portion of that tied to debris collection
- 100,000+ cubic yards: vegetative debris collected so far, about one-fourth of the estimate
- 400,000 cubic yards: estimated total vegetative debris inside city limits
- 35,000 cubic yards: estimated construction debris blown off structures
- $250 million+: countywide private property damage figure from the property appraiser
A Strange Storm for an Inland City
Milton sits about 20 miles from the coast on the west side of the storm, which Spears said is not where anyone expects the worst. Yet the damage across the city faces south to southwest, which he believes happened as the storm turned the corner and came back at the city.
Spears said the destruction looks like tornado damage, with clear swaths of devastation next to trees that were not touched. He said he is no meteorologist and had never heard of a sting jet until this storm.
He expects private losses to be more concentrated in Milton than elsewhere in the county. “It’s every building,” he said. “The roofs peeled back, facades laying on the ground.”
Debris Collection Is the Biggest Job
Early start. Milton began debris collection on the Tuesday after the storm and was among the first communities to do so. Spears said the city passed 100,000 cubic yards the morning we spoke.
- More passes are coming. Some neighbors have complained that crews picked up one corner and left. Spears promised that about three debris passes will take place across the city and that no one has been forgotten.
A safety warning. He urged residents to be very careful around debris piles and collection equipment, which he called dangerous.
Utilities and Schools
- Water: The system is complete and functioning. Milton passed its water test the Thursday after the storm, and water is potable again.
- Gas: The gas utility is back up. Spears said trees ripped out underground lines, and generators coming on all at once pulled pressure down.
- Electric: Some structures still cannot get power because the service connection to the building was torn apart. A licensed electrician must repair it before the city can restore service.
- Schools: The gym at Milton High School is destroyed and unusable, and other parts of the campus were damaged. Milton has five schools inside the city limits.
The state pushed to get Santa Rosa students back in class quickly. Spears said the school district decides when to reopen, and the city’s job was to help. Crews cleared the rights-of-way around the schools last Thursday and Friday. Over the weekend, the debris hauler cleared about 110 bus stops so children have a safe path.
“I’ve been astounded by the City of Milton team and what they’ve been able to accomplish in the number of days since we woke up to what we did on October 10th.”
