hurricane policy

How hurricanes impact waste pick‐up service

When threatened by a hurricane, the Town operates under a general framework that is in line with hurricane watches and warnings issued by the National Weather Service.

A HURRICANE WATCH means hurricane conditions (sustained winds of 74 mph or higher) are possible; it’s issued 48 hours in advance of the storm. A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions are expected within the specified area. It’s issued 36 hours in advance of the storm and means you should complete storm preparations and immediately leave the threatened area if ordered by Broward County and the National Hurricane Center to evacuate.

When a hurricane is approaching, there is a possibility, at some point, for all waste pick‐ ups from carts, dumpsters, and bulk piles, to be suspended by the Town. During a hurricane watch, all pick‐up routes should be running normally. Once a hurricane’s status is upgraded from watch to warning, waste pickups become much less certain.

When the Town is under a HURRICANE WARNING, prior to setting carts, dumpsters or bulk material out for pickup, you should seek the latest information from these sources:

Town Hall: 954‐640‐4200
Waste Pro: 954‐282‐6800

The Town will also issue a CodeRED emergency call to notify residents about key storm information, including trash pick‐up. You can sign up here for CodeRED.

If conditions change after the day’s pickup service has begun, it will likely be completed. If the hurricane WARNING is issued prior to waste trucks leaving their facility, the decision to suspend service is more complicated. Again, check the sources listed above.

Once the threat or actual hurricane has passed, a number of factors determine when service will resume. Looming large among those factors the reopening of the disposal facilities and the severity of the damage to the Town. Missed service days will not be made up. When pick‐up service resumes, all routes, carts or dumpster service, run a normal schedule for the day on which service starts up again. For example, if Wednesday and Thursday service was canceled and service resumed on Friday, only those locations with service on Friday would get picked up. The next pickup day for the Wednesday and Thursday locations would be the next regularly scheduled service day.

If the monthly bulk pick‐up service is canceled, every effort will be made to reschedule this service. In the case of severe hurricane damage, bulk service might be run as part of Town‐wide cleanup operation for several days. If a resident or property manager has bulk they want removed as part of hurricane preparations, they can try and schedule a pickup (their annual free or fee based) with the contract hauler. However, depending on the demand, the contract hauler may not be able to accommodate every request.  

Again, the key piece of information to remember is to check before you act: call Town Hall, Waste Pro or visit the Town's website or check the Town's government channel.