A total of 2,137 vessels have already been removed from the channels of Florida, when thirteen weeks of the devastating passage of Hurricane Irma in this southern state where it caused at least 72 deaths, the Coast Guard reported today.
About 160 officials from federal and state agencies are responsible for carrying out the cleanup and removal of damaged boats from the Florida channels.
The so-called Unified Response Command is composed of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Commission for the Conservation of Fisheries and Wildlife (FWC) and the US Coast Guard, institutions responsible for these tasks of “cleaning and collection “of boats, the coastguards said in a statement.
“The priority of the response teams is to first remove those vessels that may have a potential impact on the environment” of the state, he added.
The coastguards urged boat owners to insure themselves when hiring a rescue company that “provides the safest method of boat removal so that it does not affect the environment.”
The owners of the retired vessels that lack resources to repair their boat, or if their condition is of total sinister, “may assign the ownership of the vessel by waiver in favor of the FWC.
By geographic zones of greater importance, of the channels of Miami 208 vessels have already been removed; from the Jacksonville area (northeast Florida), a total of 131 boats; of the Keys, 1,525.
The number of victims of Hurricane Irma may continue to rise once local authorities, including those in the Keys, the most affected area, complete the investigations.
After touching land in the Keys, Irma returned to the sea to again impact in Florida hours later and travel the state from north to south.
In addition, due to its enormous size, Irma affected the entire Floridian peninsula and caused flooding and destruction due to its strong winds on both coasts of the state.
