Central Florida residents still struggle with Hurricane Milton debris as another tropical system looms

Residents struggle with Hurricane Milton debris

With a new tropical system potentially threatening Florida in the coming days, the area still bears the scars from Hurricane Milton, with streets lined with debris more than a month after the storm swept through.

WINTER PARK, Fla. - With a new tropical system potentially threatening Florida in the coming days, the area still bears the scars from Hurricane Milton, with streets lined with debris more than a month after the storm swept through.

In Winter Park, piles of broken branches and logs litter neighborhoods like Kingswood Manor, where residents worry that leftover debris could become dangerous projectiles in the next storm. Homeowners, frustrated and concerned, are urging city officials to clear the streets before another round of severe weather strikes.

Michael Stevens, a Winter Park resident, has had a mound of debris sitting in his yard since the hurricane hit.

"We've been trying to take what we can and put it in the waste bin," he said. But for Stevens, a cancer patient, the physical toll of clearing debris is daunting. "I am a cancer patient and the only help I can get is to pay somebody to do yard work for me," he explained.

Stevens is not alone. Across Orange County, many residents are dealing with similar remnants of the storm. For some, it’s a nuisance they’ve taken on themselves, but for others like Stevens, removing the debris isn’t an easy or affordable option.

"I just want to get rid of it because the treatments make me pretty weak, and I have to pay somebody to do it, so that is costing me more money," he said.