After two weeks of rain and with hurricane season upon us, now’s the time to clean up the debris in your yard.
Just about anything can become a projectile in a storm. Right now, local bulk trash removal companies are seeing an increase in business as people prep their yards for a storm.
Adding to the business, mosquito season is also well underway thanks to all the rain and getting rid of the junk also means getting rid of places for mosquitoes to breed.
"It's very easy to become a collector and from a collector have your things become junk," said Frank Buttaravoli, founder of HELLO! Junk Removal in West Palm Beach. "Things that are in your yard have lost their value, are no longer valuable."
Companies like HELLO! Junk Removal normally perform jobs that involve clearing homes and business after a move out or hauling construction debris.
But during hurricane and mosquito season, the company is busy taking work orders from private homes to remove old appliances, sheds, trash and other debris that people collect in their front of backyards.
"Anything loose that’s going to be picked up easily with the wind," said Buttaravoli.
In preparation for this hurricane season starting this Friday, June 1, crews are now clearing just about anything from people's yards. The company provides a crew and a large debris truck to take your junk and bring it to landfill or recycling centers.
We tagged along as crews removed an old shed at one family's home in Jensen Beach. The shed was falling apart and it was filled with old tools.
"If this shed were to blow away in a storm, it would be very easy for this saw -- which has a really wide surface area to become airborne," said Buttaravoli."It's not safe anymore for the homeowner or for the neighbors for that matter, so what we’re going to be doing is we’re going to be demolishing the shed loading it into her truck and hauling away."
Getting rid of your junk also gives mosquitoes one less place to breed.
"Things like buckets or tires, those things are going to collect water and it’s going to become a magnet for mosquitoes," said Buttaravoli. "Your neighbors are not going to like you too much if you’re generating all these mosquitoes."
If you decide to do the clean up yourself, don't wait. Trash pick up is usually inundated with last minute trash leading up to a storm.
"Once a named storm is a few days away it’s just too close," said Buttaravoli. "Never too early or too soon to get started on preparing for storm season."
