# Hurricanes, Florida, Debris and Removal question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-florida-debris-and-removal-question/263201 "2004-09-05T11:41:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-florida-debris-and-removal-question/263201/1 "2004-09-05T11:41:39Z")
Driving into worki at 3:45am this morning, I listened to many correspondants on CNN/Radio. They all talk about debris flying about. Got me thinking. Florida has so little depth to its water table, that I cannot envision a “landfill” like we have up my way. So…where does Florida dump the huge volume of refuse produced by awful events like the hurricanes? Georgia? Alabama? The ocean? And, considering the serious need to CLEAN UP FAST, what about the amount of Haz-Mat debris mixed in with the non-Haz-Mat debris? Backhoes scraping streets clean of wrecked homes and cars aren’t going to be too choosey about what they dump into huge trucks to truck away… Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-florida-debris-and-removal-question/263201/2 "2004-09-05T12:04:51Z")
Florida does indeed have landfills. One of the most notorious was [Mt. Trashmore](http://kwtn.com/news/news/2000/00-08-04-KWTN-Temple_Of_the_Lost_Chickens.html) ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-florida-debris-and-removal-question/263201/3 "2004-09-05T12:08:18Z")
They do have landfills down here in FL, just like the Mt. Trashmores you see almost everywhere. In Key West, where land is probably at the biggest premium of anywhere in FL, they had a large open area where the dumped all the debris, and then eventually trucked it up to the mainland. As far as Haz-Mat, I think they do the best they can to sort out that type of material. ---
**Author:** ![Getoverit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Getoverit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Getoverit)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-florida-debris-and-removal-question/263201/4 "2004-09-06T22:00:11Z")
You go up.The highest elevation of land in the Naples,Fl. area is our lovely landfill. Such a view up there with the buzzards and crows flying about. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-florida-debris-and-removal-question/263201/5 "2004-09-11T14:13:39Z")
Eeeeeech. Key West huh? It’s gonna be rough when Key West becomes an integral part of the Gulf of Mexico in a few days. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-florida-debris-and-removal-question/263201/6 "2004-09-11T19:25:04Z")
There’s friggin’ huge “Mt Trashmore” in my neck of Florida too, I think it’s in Pompano. For all the tree debris (which I think is the majority), I’d guess they’d chip it and sell it somewhere, instead of landfilling it. I suppose the supply is much bigger than the demand right now though, just in my neighborhood there’s a shitload of downed trees.