Hurricane season preparations can help minimize property damage and make our communities safer. Since hurricane season starts June 1, now is the time to complete major vegetation trimming. Once a storm threatens, it’s too late to trim trees.
To ensure your yard is as prepared as possible:
- Cut back all trees and weak branches that could come in contact with buildings.
- Have foliage thinned so wind can flow freely through branches, decreasing the chance that trees or plants will be uprooted.
- Containerize small pieces of vegetation, such as pine needles, leaves, twigs, etc. in bags or cans that weigh less than 50 lbs. when full and place at the curb on your scheduled day.
- Clean your yard of any items that could pose a danger to you or your neighbors in hurricane-force winds, such as old lumber, broken lawn furniture, etc., and place them curbside on your bulk waste collection day. You can find your bulk waste collection day in the Recyclopedia.
- Place vegetative material from routine maintenance at the curb on your regularly scheduled collection day. Unincorporated Palm Beach County residents may place up to 6 cubic yards – equivalent to 3 standard size refrigerators – at the curb. See what six cubic yards looks like»
- Follow the 6/50 rule: each piece of vegetation cannot exceed 6 ft. in length or 50 lbs. in weight.
Residents living within city boundaries should call their local municipality for their bulk collection guidelines. Check the SWA website for municipal contact information»
If contracting lawn care services for major vegetation trimming, make sure contractors include the price of debris removal as part of their service. Debris from major cutting or tree removal will need to be transported to an SWA facility, and there will be a fee for this disposal.
Last hurricane season, Hurricane Irma left almost 3 million cubic yards of vegetative debris on the ground. It took three months and cost more than $30 million to collect and dispose of it all.
Further Hurricane-Related Resources:
For additional information on debris collection in unincorporated parts of the county, contact SWA Customer Information Services at 561-697-2700 or 866-792-4636 (toll-free), or visit SWA.org/Hurricane.
Learn more about the Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management»
