As crews continue removing Hurricane Florence debris from Wilmington's streets, the Wilmington City Council heard an early estimate Monday of how much picking up tree detritus and ruined chunks of buildings could ultimately cost the city: from around $13 million to a little over $20 million.

That cost could change and will be refined over the coming days, with two-week updates sent to council members as the effort continues, said Dave Mayes, the city's public services director, in a presentation to the council Monday morning.

By comparison, the cost of debris removal from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, an ice storm in 2014 and Hurricane Irene in 2011 combined was about $3.4 million, according to city figures.

Removal crews have likely picked up 200,000 cubic yards of debris as of Monday since Sept. 20, whereas Hurricane Matthew, for example, resulted in 100,000 cubic yards total and the 2014 ice storm's tally was 175,000 cubic yards.

"The debris volumes [from past storms] are only a fraction of what we're dealing with today," Mayes said.

He said post-Florence debris removal is far from over, estimating that the final total from Hurricane Florence could be 800,000 to 1.2 million cubic yards.

An initial debris clean-up push, aimed at clearing roadways enough to allow emergency vehicles through, involved 400 miles of city streets and was finished Sept. 15. The first pass for the vegetative debris piled up on the sides of city streets began Sept. 20 and is ongoing, with large and small trucks and other equipment deployed depending on obstacles such as power lines, Mayes explained. 

The city's debris removal contractor is DRC Emergency Services. Another ongoing effort crews are tackling is clearing dangerous trees and limbs from city right of ways and parks. 

The first pass for removing construction debris from the storm is expected to begin Oct. 8. The city's contractor will make second passes for each of the two types of debris they're working on, vegetative and construction. 

Unfortunately, pointed out Deputy City Manager Tony Caudle during a presentation at the Wilmington City Council's agenda briefing Monday morning, federal dollars will not offset the costs of debris collected at commercial sites as it can for the debris removed from residential areas.

"Commercial debris is ineligbile for FEMA reimbursement," he said.

He pointed out that multifamily housing developments are considered commercial sites by FEMA. Caudle also said officials feel it's important to pick up debris at commercial sites for health reasons and for economic development purposes.  

"People want this stuff gone," Caudle said.

The construction debris will go to the New Hanover County Landfill, and Monday's cost estimates factor in an anticipated waive of tipping fees, city officials said.

For vegetative debris, there are two debris management sites, one on North Kerr Avenue and another on Sunnyvale Drive, where debris is being ground up and will be retained by the owners of those sites, Mayes said, saving the city hauling costs. Another site on Oleander Drive could be activated soon, he said.

Before Mayes's presentation on debris, Caudle gave a presentation on the city's response titled, "Hurricane Florence: An Aftermath 22 Years in the Making." He was referencing the fact that Wilmington had not experienced a similar hurricane since Hurricane Fran, and even then, the debris wasn't even close to what Hurricane Florence produced as it lingered over the region for nearly three days. 

Caudle emphasized that FEMA reimbursement for the city's expenditures, from debris removal to overtime for city employees who were working around the clock, will take some time.

"This is going to be a long process," he said. "This will take us at least two years to get out of."