MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – It’s been months since Hurricane Matthew hit our area but several people are still waiting for debris from the storm to be removed from their curbs.
“When Hurricane Matthew came through it knocked down a 40 foot oak tree in the backyard,” said Scott Alexander, who lives in the Pine Lakes area of Myrtle Beach. “The insurance company would pay for the removal of what was touching the house, which left the trunk and the root system for me to remove myself.”
Alexander’s friend came to help cut down the rest of the tree and once the job was done they rolled several pieces to the curb. However, those pieces have been sitting at Alexander’s curb for weeks.
“I was seeing the same type of things with several other homes,” added Alexander. “As a taxpayer for the City of Myrtle Beach, this is what I pay for, this needs to be removed by the city.”
Alexander said the Solid Waste Division of Myrtle Beach came by his house on Wednesday after he complained. The root ball of the tree was removed, but nothing else.
“Which was the biggest and heaviest part of all of this,” he added. “There’s no rhyme or reason to their decision to not get it all but to come pick up a piece of it.”
Alexander was told the rest of his debris was actually considered “logs” and the city would not remove it.
“They explained to me that because this is logs that they would not pick it up and that I’m responsible for removing it,” said Alexander. “I feel like if I’ve cut it up and made it easy for the city then the city should remove it.”
News 13 reached out to the Solid Waste Division several times on Wednesday afternoon. Our reporter was told she would get a call back, but at the time of this post, she has not heard back.
We did reach out to city spokesperson, Mark Kruea, who said: “The city doesn’t pick up logs or typically stumps. If it’s a stump that weighs less than 50 pounds we will pick it up but logs are either the responsibility of the property owner or the contractor who came in and took that tree down in the first place.”
Alexander said he’s still not satisfied.
“Up until now I’ve been extremely satisfied with the way the city removes all things from the street when it needs to be done,” he added. “So I’m just waiting for this to be done as well.”