Osceola County, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Storm Debris (2026)

Section 19-8 sets out an eleven-factor test the Board of County Commissioners applies, after a declared state of emergency, to decide whether disaster debris on private streets inside a residential community poses enough of a threat to justify county removal. The factors include whether debris is blocking rescue vehicles, whether it could spread disease, whether it is stopping utility restoration, whether it threatens public property, whether it is blocking solid waste collection, whether it risks leaching contaminants into the aquifer, and whether its sheer volume makes private removal impractical.

Before the county removes anything from a private community, the property owner, homeowner or condominium association, or governing board has to indemnify and hold the county harmless to the maximum extent the law allows. Commercial and other private areas can also be cleared if the board decides clearing helps county recovery or the health and safety of residents. Nothing in the section stops the county's first-response crews from pushing debris off any roadway, public or private, so emergency vehicles can get through right after a disaster.

Outside of that emergency roadway clearance, the county is not obligated to remove debris from private property or private communities beyond the streets needed for access and egress, unless the board finds the debris so severe or widespread that it threatens the whole county. Gated communities must open, or lock open, their entrance gates for emergency and debris-removal vehicles once a hurricane warning is issued.