PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Outside a Pinellas Park home Wednesday, workers were the conductors of a symphony to a 79-year-old veteran’s ears.
“Looks good, looks good, wished it looked like that a little before all this,” Terry Gould said.
Gould, an Army veteran first reached out to 10 Tampa Bay after pounds of tree branches, brush and debris were piled up in his backyard. The trimmings were left after post-storm electric crews restored power to his block last week.
“I wasn't going to load that stuff back and forth. Not gonna happen,” Gould said. While hard for him to admit, he was in no shape, physically or financially to clean up the mess himself.
After 10 Tampa Bay’s coverage, Duke Energy sent a crew of contractors to his home to take care of it. In about an hour, the team had all the brush cleared from his backyard and hauled it off.
“Fantastic job, these gentlemen came in here, no problem. Got the stuff out front,” Gould said. “Very, very thankful to [10 Tampa Bay].”
However, Gould’s was a unique circumstance. Duke Energy’s policy is clear; after brush is cleared so linemen can restore power, disposal of any wood or debris is the responsibility of the property owner.
"When an “act of God” (such as lightning, ice storms, high winds, hurricanes, tornadoes) or other natural events cause trees or other vegetation to fall across power lines and damage facilities, we cut the trees and brush so poles and lines can be replaced and re-energized. Disposal of any wood, limbs or debris resulting from this type of emergency operation is the responsibility of the property owner," their website reads.
If you are a homeowner in a similar situation where you can’t take care of the debris, there are some local nonprofits that can help assist or point you in the right direction, including:
- Pinellas Opportunity Council, Emergency Services Program
727-823-4101 ext 125 - Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas
Help Line: 1-800-963-5337 - 211 Tampa Bay Cares
- Keep Pinellas Beautiful
- Samartian's Purse International Relief
Throughout the year, power companies trim trees around powerlines as a preventative measure to cut down on outages when we get storms. In those cases, they will haul off the debris, but there are limits to what falls under their responsibility.
If you have Duke, for example, you are responsible for trimming the trees that interfere with your service line, the line that runs from the pole to your home's meter.
You can either call them to turn off the power to that line so you can trim it yourself or you can ask to have a representative evaluate it. But, there's no guarantee they will work on it.