Public Service Announcement

Residents Encouraged to Clear Debris in Wake of Storm

Sunday, July 6, 2014 (Halifax, NS) – The Halifax Regional Municipality is asking citizens to assist with the post-storm clean-up efforts by clearing any loose debris on their property abutting the street in front of their residence. ‎

Residents can place bundled debris alongside their green bin and it will be picked up during regularly scheduled green bin collection. The municipality’s Solid Waste services will be accepting up to 10 bundles per household each week until all the debris is cleared.

Each bundle of debris, secured with twine, should be no larger than what is typically accepted:

• about what you can hold in an arm load
• not heavier than 75 lbs (35 kg)
• not longer than four feet
• branch sizes need to be less than 8 inches in diameter

Since early yesterday morning, Municipal Operations crews began round-the-clock efforts to triage the incoming calls for tree damage due to the strong winds of Tropical Storm Arthur. Over the past 30 hours, approximately 210 calls were received for tree damage. Each of these call locations was visited by a supervisor to assess for critical nature, then by a skilled tree crew to remedy. Several in-house crews, as well as contractors, were operational throughout the storm to address serious incidents and ensure emergency vehicles had access to required streets.

In the past 24 hours, efforts have concentrated on the main arterial routes and over the next few days work will focus more on residential streets, ensuring that all necessary work is completed over the coming week.

Residents are reminded to call 311 to report any downed trees, branches or other issues that require the attention of municipal staff.

The municipality appreciates the public’s patience and continued support during the clean-up effort.

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Media Contact:

Breton Murphy
Halifax Regional Municipality
Public Affairs
902-266-8337
murphyb@halifax.ca