www.wtsp.com Open in urlscan Pro
23.209.72.238  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

GET /search

<form class="header__search-form" method="GET" action="/search">
  <label class="header__search-label" for="site_search">Search:</label>
  <input class="header__search-box" placeholder="Search wtsp.com" id="site_search" type="search" name="q">
  <button class="header__search-submit" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>

DIALOG

<form method="dialog">
  <button class="grid__modal-close" aria-label="close"></button>
  <input name="__RequestVerificationToken" type="hidden" value="CfDJ8IQf92bg8INOsIKZodgPxs0Ha98KrPLIZdQRF_PCFFUZpdeOqB_7P0QjFWmVC2lCIVPhsfRIUOoFYY9JdIClXNIitmNJla9uHLU2C8CRR7WVm-66lJrFCvpOeALCxgX655oyahqZ-rYO2pBFoT9YUxI">
</form>

Text Content

Skip Navigation
 * Share on Facebook
 * Share on SMS
 * Share on Email


NAVIGATION

 * News
    * Back
   
    * Local
    * TBAYtoday
    * Near Me
    * Florida
    * 10Investigates
    * Nation World
    * Brightside
    * Nightside
    * Health
    * Money
    * Entertainment
    * Features
   
   Latest News Stories
   
    * DUNEDIN ANNOUNCES ROAD CLOSURE ALONG BAYSHORE BOULEVARD DUE TO WATER MAIN
      BREAK
   
    * HOW FAITH IN ACTION HELPS SENIORS IN NORTH LAKELAND

 * Weather
    * Back
   
    * Forecast
    * Radar
    * 10-Day & Hourly
    * Hurricane Headquarters
    * Weather Cameras
    * Traffic
    * Weather Explainers
   
   Latest Weather Stories
   
    * 10 WEATHER: WARM AND STICKY WEDNESDAY
   
    * THE HISTORIC KATHLEEN MIDDLE SCHOOL LIVES ON AFTER A FULL RESTORATION
      FOLLOWING EF-2 TORNADO

 * Sports
 * VERIFY
 * Prescription for Life | Sports and how athletes can preserve their mental
   health
   
   
   
   00:00
   
   00:4101:00GO LIVE
   
   
   
   Facebook
   Twitter
   Email
   Embed
   SpeedNormal
   Autoplay
   
   
   
   
 * Search
   Search: Search


Right Now
Tampa, FL »
91°

Tampa, FL »
Weather Closings
 * Advertise With Us
 * 10 Investigates
 * Community Connection
 * Contests
 * Great Day Live
 * Hurricane Headquarters
 * Connect
 * Forever Family
 * HeartThreads


Breaking News
More (-1) »

Pinellas County


VETERAN FRUSTRATED AFTER CONTRACTORS LEAVE TREE LIMBS, BRUSH IN HIS BACKYARD.
WHAT'S THE POLICY POST-STORM?

79-year-old Terry Gould says his Pinellas Park backyard has been filled with
tree limbs and brush, but it wasn't the storm per se that put them there.
Veteran frustrated after debris from Hurricane Debby is left in his yard
Ad 1 of 1


00:11


00:00

00:0000:00GO LIVE



Facebook
Twitter
Email
Embed
SpeedNormal
Autoplay





MORE VIDEOS

Next up in 5

Historical Society's passion in Polk County for preserving the past

 * Next up in 5
   
   Historical Society's passion in Polk County for preserving the past

 * J.J. McCarthy's Rookie Season Ends Before It Starts | The Big 6 in 60 NFL

 * Crews clear debris from veteran's backyard following 10 Tampa Bay coverage

 * How Faith In Action helps seniors in North Lakeland

 * The historic Kathleen Middle School lives on after a full restoration
   following EF-2 tornado

Author: Aaron Parseghian
Published: 6:43 PM EDT August 13, 2024
Updated: 6:43 PM EDT August 13, 2024


PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — A week after Hurricane Debby, many are still dealing with
the impacts, including a 10 Tampa Bay viewer who reached out for help.

79-year-old Terry Gould says his Pinellas Park backyard has been filled with
tree limbs and brush, but it wasn't the storm per se that put them there.

“When they came in to fix it, they said, well, we've got to trim off the trees
in the back, I said okay sure,” Gould said.



A couple days after the storm, while working to get power back on line,
contractors first had to clear tree limbs from Gould and his neighbors homes, he
thought they would also cleanup what they took down, but that wasn't the case.

The pounds of limbs and brush was left in his backyard, some even crushing a
ginger plant that holds a lot of sentimental value, planted by his late wife
Barbara.

“I didn’t think it was that bad until I walked over here and I saw that and said
oh wow, it’s a good thing she’s not here,” Gould described.

At 79, with a bad back, he says there's no way he could clean it up himself. 

“20 years ago, I would have had that done by now, but you get old and you know
you're not as good as you used to be,” Gould said.

On a fixed income, he’s not able to pay for someone to come bag it all up.

“Can't be putting down $200-$300 on something like this. I haven't got it. I
live on $1,500 a month that's it. And the way prices are nowadays, good luck,”
he said.

We reached out to Duke Energy and Tuesday night they told us that based on the
circumstances, they are working with Terry and will have a crew come out to
resolve his problem.

But, don’t expect that at your home, their policy online is clear that disposal
of any wood or debris after post-weather work like this is the responsibility of
the property owner.  

When an “act of God” (such as lightning, ice storms, high winds, hurricanes,
tornadoes) or other natural events cause trees or other vegetation to fall
across power lines and damage facilities, we cut the trees and brush so poles
and lines can be replaced and re-energized. Disposal of any wood, limbs or
debris resulting from this type of emergency operation is the responsibility of
the property owner," reads their website. 

Throughout the year, power companies trim trees around powerlines as a
preventative measure to cut down on outages when we get storms, but there are
limits to what falls under their responsibility.



If you have Duke, for example, you are responsible for trimming the trees that
interfere with your service line, the line that runs from the pole to your
home's meter.

You can either call them to turn off the power to that line so you can trim it
yourself or you can ask to have a representative evaluate it. But, there's no
guarantee they will work on it. 


Close Ad


1 Winter Haven detectives make arrest in deadly stabbing of 26-year-old woman in
July

2 Man allegedly kicked out of Tampa strip club drives semi-truck into building;
1 dead

Audien Hearing

Audien Hearing|
Sponsored by TaboolaSponsored by Taboola
New York Seniors With Hearing Loss Are In For A Big Surprise

3 Businesses across Tampa are celebrating 813 Day

4 Some Experts Think Oklahoma Should Not Be Ranked? | Linebacker stepping up
great for Sooners

Read More DiscoverSkip Ad




Merge Garden

Bring Your Dream Garden to LifeMerge Gardens is Now on Desktop!Merge Garden|
SponsoredSponsored
Install Now


Undo

Savings Pro | search ads

Three New York Banks Are Paying Record High Interest Rates - See the ListSavings
Pro | search ads|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
SeniorBetterLife

Hear Every Word in Conversations Anywhere AnytimeThis #1 selling Cheap hearing
aid in America is not what you think (see for yourself).SeniorBetterLife|
SponsoredSponsored
Shop Now


Undo

Merge Garden

Experience the Joy of Gardening from Your DesktopMerge, Match, and Create!Merge
Garden|
SponsoredSponsored
Try Now


Undo

Audien Hearing

Is This $99 Hearing Aids Better Than $5000 Ones?Hear every word in
conversations, without spending thousands of dollars.Audien Hearing|
SponsoredSponsored
Shop Now


Undo
Best Searches

The Cost Of Dental Implants For Seniors in 2024 (See Pricing)Best Searches|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo


The historic Kathleen Middle School lives on after a full restoration following
EF-2 tornadoWTSP


Undo

Man accused of killing mother in Tampa due in courtWTSP


Undo





Loading next article...




BEFORE YOU LEAVE, CHECK THIS OUT

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 


 * Jobs
 * Terms of Service
 * Privacy Policy
 * Ad Choices

 * EEO Public File Report
 * FCC Online Public Inspection File
 * Closed Caption Procedures
 * Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

© 2024 WTSP-TV. All Rights Reserved.



WTSP WOULD LIKE TO SEND YOU PUSH NOTIFICATIONS ABOUT THE LATEST NEWS AND
WEATHER.

Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings.

No Thanks Allow





‘DO NOT SELL OR SHARE MY PERSONAL INFORMATION’ NOTICE

Like many content publishers, we provide online advertising services that use
cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your device and
online activity on our sites, apps and other online services. These services use
this information to try to tailor the ads you see online to your interests.
These are called interest-based ads. For more information about our collection,
use and disclosure of your personal information when you visit our sites and
apps, see our Privacy Policy.

Under certain state laws, including, but not limited to, the California Consumer
Privacy Act, California Privacy Rights Act, and the Virginia Consumer Data
Protection Act (collectively, “State Privacy Laws”), this collection and use of
our users’ information for interest-based advertising purposes may constitute a
“sale” of personal information to other parties. Certain State Privacy Laws
require that we give you the ability to opt out of the sale or sharing of your
personal information or data in connection with these targeting advertising
activities. Although State Privacy Laws only extend their protections to
residents of their particular states, we respect consumer choice when it comes
to privacy rights. Accordingly, we offer all of our users – regardless of
whether you are a resident of a state that has adopted a State Privacy Law – the
right to opt out of this type of sale or sharing of your personal information.
You can exercise this opt-out right by using the toggle switch below.

Opting out will not disable cookies or other technologies that facilitate the
proper functioning of our website or collect data for purposes that do not
involve targeted advertising. Opting out will not mean that you will stop seeing
interest-based ads or other ads online. Specifically, opting out will not
prevent you from seeing interest-based ads based on information that, for
purposes of State Privacy Laws, was not sold or shared by us, was sold before
you opted out, or was sold by third parties outside of our control. You can
learn more about interest-based ads and additional opt-out choices here.

In addition, if you are a California resident and have enabled the Global
Privacy Control (GPC) signal on a supported web browser, we will treat this as a
request to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for
targeted advertising purposes. For more information about what the GPC is and
how to enable it, please visit globalprivacycontrol.org.
More information
Allow All


MANAGE CONSENT PREFERENCES

STRICTLY NECESSARY COOKIES

Always Active
Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched
off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you
which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy
preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block
or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

SALE OF PERSONAL DATA

Sale of Personal Data

 

 * TARGETING COOKIES
   
   Required Cookies
   
   These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They
   may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show
   you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal
   information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet
   device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted
   advertising.

 * PERFORMANCE COOKIES
   
   Required Cookies
   
   These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure
   and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are
   the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All
   information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If
   you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our
   site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.

Confirm My Choices

Back Button

Back


PERFORMANCE COOKIES



Vendor Search Search Icon Filter Icon


Clear Filters

Information storage and access
Apply
Consent Leg.Interest

All Consent Allowed

Select All Vendors
Select All Vendors
All Consent Allowed

Confirm My Choices