Lee County surpassed the 100,000-cubic-yard mark for vegetative and construction debris collection in unincorporated areas post-Hurricane Milton this week, county officials said. As of Nov. 6, the total amount of collections, including sand, is approximately 152,876 cubic yards. Sand operations will continue along with construction and vegetative debris collections.

Hurricane Milton washed ashore thousands of cubic yards of sand needing to be cleaned up from roadways. Sand collection has reached 41,387 cubic yards, or 27% of total debris collected. Once sand is collected, it is brought to a sand staging site where it is screened. Screened sand is then placed into needed areas throughout the county.

The county will be conducting a final pass of sand collection on Estero Boulevard and Hickory Boulevard beginning Nov. 18. Starting Nov. 7, residents are asked to place all remaining sand along the right of way to be removed by contracted vendors. The final day for residents to place sand out for collection is at 5 p.m. Nov. 17.