City of Houston says collecting debris from May 16 storm could take three months – Houston Public Media

Chevonne Greaser lives near a city park and said she and her neighbors are used to seeing snakes and other wildlife near their homes. Lately, though, she said creatures have been showing up in yards and walkways in her part of Timbergrove Manor in northwest Houston.

Greaser attributes their increased presence to large piles of downed trees, branches and other debris that remained on neighborhood curbs for nearly three weeks. Timbergrove, which, as its name suggests, is dotted with mature, towering trees, was particularly hard hit by the deadly May 16 derecho that spawned two tornadoes, caused eight deaths and damaged buildings, infrastructure and trees throughout the region.

Every second house on its cul-de-sac was struck by a fallen tree, according to Greaser, who said Tuesday that each of those homes still had a pile of debris at least 7 feet tall. They had not yet been collected by the Houston Solid Waste Management Department, which began its citywide collection efforts in the days after the storm.

“None of the kids, we don’t let them play in the cul-de-sac anymore. It’s just too dangerous,” said Greaser, a mother of four. “There are some big limbs sticking out.”

The Department of Solid Waste Management announced Friday that it would take up to three months to collect about 1.5 billion cubic yards of residential debris created by the storm – enough to half fill NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans football team and annual. Livestock show and rodeo. The department and its team of contractors had collected more than 380,000 cubic yards of debris as of Friday, he said.

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Chris Elliott, who spent the past five years as president of the Timbergrove Manor Neighborhood Association, called the storm “catastrophic” and said he hasn’t seen comparable damage since Hurricane Ike in 2008 So he said he understood there was a significant amount of damage. debris in the Houston area, adding that most homes in Timbergrove and surrounding Heights neighborhoods have piles outside of them.

Traci Riley

“They have started cleaning up the debris in our neighborhood and we are really grateful for that,” Elliott said.

Seeing signs of progress, even small ones, might be the best way to keep affected residents patient and encouraged as cleanup efforts drag on, Elliott said.

The city’s Solid Waste Management District announced last Friday that it had launched an online tool to track the progress of storm debris collection, with the ability for residents to enter their address and see when their debris must be collected. The tracker will also include a map displaying areas where debris has already been collected, where it is currently being collected and where collections are scheduled for the next two days, the department said.

However, as of Tuesday, the website provided in a city news release was not yet functional. A Department of Solid Waste Management spokesperson did not immediately comment Tuesday when asked about the status of the online tracker.

“They need to finish this tracker,” Elliott said.

Greaser said she also understands that “the undertaking is huge” but called it “idiotic” that the city’s cleanup efforts could take up to 90 days. She said she hopes the solid waste department can find a way to speed up its efforts.

Limited visibility on the road caused by piles of debris appears to have contributed to a recent vehicle accident in the Timbergrove neighborhood, according to Greaser, who said there has been at least one instance in which a resident hired a company to remove a pile of his property and debris. was then placed in the median of a major artery nearby.

“I don’t know what people are going to start doing in 90 days,” she said.