What happens to all the rubble after a hurricane hits somewere? does it all just go to the trash?

Question

Not just hurricanes, all disasters, and is it usable for recycling or just re using the materials??

Answer 1

Believe it or not today when something like this happens alot of it is recycled. All wood materials can be ground back up and it is pressed back together and can be used on the same house as chipboard, its like plywood, the wood siding you see going around every house in America. I know that in NO after katrina contractors went in and did this, of course there is just so much and obviously they could only go to the places where they could get paid or was aloud to go but it did happen. So not all of it goes to the land fill.

Answer 2

If it's not a poor community, then the debris is disposed of in a variety of ways -- natural materials might be turned in mulch, metals might be recycled, things that cannot be recycled are taken to landfills, toxic materials disposed of properly, etc.

Sadly, in poor communities, debris may never be sifted through, and it may not be thrown away for weeks, months, years... New Orleans and communities in the Pacific hit by the tsunami of a few years back come to mind. Even when "thrown away", it might actually just be moved to another area.

Answer 3

They recycle yard debris into mulch then give the mulch to anyone who will haul it away for free. Some stuff is recycled and most just hits the garbage. When I lived in Orlando they designated park areas as drop off for after storm debris "a fancy word for garbage" the broad-casted on the TV and radio where to take your stuff. They also had some local curb pickup.