Space Coast Clearing Co connects Melbourne property owners with a local land clearing contractor for storm & hurricane debris cleanup in Melbourne and the surrounding Brevard County communities.
Hurricane season on the Space Coast runs June 1 through November 30 with its peak around September 10, and even the storms that miss still send their outer bands across Brevard — tropical systems alone drop about five inches of rain on Melbourne in an average year, roughly a tenth of the annual total. When a storm does connect, the aftermath is measured in downed pines, split oaks, snapped palms, and yards buried under vegetation that was canopy the day before.
Storm debris cleanup is land clearing at emergency pace. Machines that spend normal weeks mulching palmetto go to work opening driveways, pulling downed trees off fences and outbuildings, cutting up trunks too big to move whole, and staging debris for grinding or haul-off. Leaning and half-fallen trees — the widow-makers a storm leaves hanging — come down under control before gravity picks its own moment.
Florida's burn rules actually bend for storms, and it's worth knowing how. Normally, land-clearing debris may only be burned on the property where it was generated, with Florida Forest Service authorization and hard setbacks. Storm-generated debris is the named exception: FDACS allows it to be transported and burned at authorized offsite locations. Even so, most residential storm cleanup ends in grinding and hauling — faster, and no authorization paperwork between you and a clean yard.
There's a pre-season version of this service, too, and it's the smarter buy. Clearing dead and leaning trees, thinning overloaded canopies, and mulching heavy brush before June turns a property from a debris generator into one that rides a storm out — every limb removed in May is one that isn't in your living room in September.
After the storm or ahead of it, Space Coast Clearing Co connects you with a Brevard land clearing contractor for a free, itemized, no-obligation quote on getting the property cleared and back in order.
The June-first walk that saves a roof
The cheapest storm work happens before the storm has a name. A pre-season walk of the property, timed to the hurricane outlooks NWS Melbourne publishes each spring, is a hunt for what the wind will find first:
- Dead or beetle-hit pines that snap rather than bend
- Leaners already aimed at the house, the barn, or the power drop
- Cracked forks and overextended limbs in oaks over the roof
- Loose brush and debris piles that become airborne at 90 mph
- Clogged swales and ditches that will hold the flood on your land
For a big tree that looks questionable but valuable, the assessment resources at Trees Are Good explain what an ISA arborist looks for before anyone decides between pruning and removal.
After landfall: the order of operations
Post-storm work runs a strict sequence. The driveway and access points open first, because nothing else happens until machines and vehicles can move. Trees on structures come off next, carefully, since a trunk resting on a roof is under load in directions that are hard to read. Then the leaners come down under control, and only then does the general debris get staged, ground, or hauled.
Florida's burn rules carry one storm-specific carve-out worth knowing: storm-generated debris may be transported to authorized offsite burn locations under FDACS rules, the lone exception to on-site-only burning of land-clearing debris. In practice, most residential cleanup still ends in grinding and hauling because it is faster and waits on nobody's authorization.
More from Clear & Mulch: Forestry Mulching · Brush & Underbrush Clearing · Palmetto Removal · Brazilian Pepper Removal · Pasture & Acreage Reclamation · Fence Line Clearing
Sources & further reading
Before the machine rolls
When should I storm-prep my property in Florida?
Before June 1, when hurricane season opens. Dead trees, leaners, and heavy brush removed in May are debris that never lands on the house in September, and pre-season scheduling is far easier than post-storm scheduling.
Can hurricane debris be burned somewhere other than my property?
Storm-generated debris is the one exception in Florida's rules, and it may be moved to authorized offsite burn locations. Most cleanups still grind or haul instead, since that route waits on no authorization.
How soon after a hurricane can debris be cleared?
As soon as it is safe to work, which usually means downed power lines are confirmed dead and flooding has receded. Access and hazard removal typically start within days, with full cleanup following.
Is it dangerous to leave leaning trees after a storm?
Yes. A partially uprooted or hung-up tree is under unpredictable tension, and gravity eventually picks its own moment. Controlled takedown removes the hazard before the next gust does it uncontrolled.
Does the county collect storm debris from private land clearing?
After major declared storms, Brevard County typically runs curbside collection of household vegetative debris on published schedules. Debris from acreage clearing or behind fence lines is generally the owner's to handle, so check the county's current guidance.