HOUSTON — The City of Houston is adding 50 more storm debris pickup contractor crews to help tackle the cleanup left after the deadly and destructive storms that hit the Houston area last week.
Just about every street you drive down in Kashmere Gardens, you'll find piles of cut-up trees and limbs and damaged household items.
Some people just got power restored Wednesday morning and some are still without. It's frustrating, but one resident told KHOU 11 News he's glad he's alive.
The pecan tree next to Tommy Reed's house did some major damage and nearly a week later, the cleanup continues.
“It got real real dark over here real real black and the tree said boom. All of the power went out it was dark," Reed said.
Somewhere behind all the twisted branches and leaves, is his car with the roof fully caved in. That's just some of the damage.
“You see the tree right here it hit the house. I’m glad it didn’t hit all the house. It just hit the corner of the house right here," Reed said.
Tree stumps now line the streets, but this is not the kind of tree-lined streets they had in mind.
Since last Thursday’s storms, the City of Houston solid waste teams have kept busy, but with the recent certification of outside crews, 50 more teams can now help out
“We’re asking folks to be patient. We estimate this operation. Will take anywhere from 30 to 90 days. We hope to have the bulk of the collection done in the first month,” said Mark Wilfalk with City of Houston Solid Waste Department.
Crews in Kashmere Gardens were hard at work, but with so much debris, the timeline to clear it isn't clear.
“We don’t want this stuff to sit at the curb to allow other vectors to start to move in rats, snakes, and all of that type of stuff,” Wilfalk said.
Considering the damage, Reed said this is nothing to worry about.
“Yeah, I’m good. I’m good ha ha ha I’m alive. You know what I’m saying. I’m alive," he said.
An interactive map showing when and where debris pickup will happen is expected to be online by the end of the week or by Monday.