Cleaning up after Beryl: Spring Branch neighbors still looking for debris pick up
HOUSTON - Thursday, August 8, one month exactly after Hurricane Beryl made landfall, FOX 26 Reporter Leslie DelasBour spoke with concerned neighbors in the Spring Branch District.
One of those neighbors is 95-year-old Harry Cain who told FOX 26 on the morning of August 9, the debris was indeed picked up.
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"I just said, I’ll wait until they got here and then y’all came out and the next day it was done. I don’t know if that’s the cause or not, but it was nice to have the help," said Cain.
For five weeks, Harry Cain was looking at a pile of debris in front of his home. Now all that’s left are a few scraps of limbs.
Although he’s happy to see the debris gone, at his age, he didn’t know how he was going to get it done.
"It’s very frustrating because we built this lot and built this house, so it’s been a part of me for so long, so it’s been a big distraction. But it’s over with now, I hope we can get on with the rest of it," said Cain.
However, just one street over on Lynnview, one mom says she’s can’t move on – because she’s been looking at piles of debris on her street since the May storm.
"School starts in two days for this neighborhood and I have a fifth grader. People want to ride their bikes to school, we have walkers, people who want to walk and ride their bikes, and here is debris blocking all the sidewalk," said Villasana. "My bigger concern, not just for my kids, is that this is an actual bus stop. This is where the bus stops to let kids on and off the bus. Its not safe. It creates a ton of blind spots and it's not safe for these kids and these drivers."
FOX 26 reached out to solid waste to ask about specific clean up times and dates for this neighborhood, they said:
"The first pass of Beryl storm debris collections has been underway for 32 days. We estimate we are about 75% complete with first pass, and that the first pass should be concluding in the next 10 days. Once the first pass is complete, the city will do a second pass.
The city's storm debris progress tracker allows Houstonians to check a specific address for its status. If you zoom in on the address, you can see what progress has been made in your area by using the legend to identify the activity. Additionally, some residents have placed debris out after the first pass, but we want your help to assure them that we will be back for a second pass.
Residents with storm debris can continue to report it to 3-1-1, but it's not required. Storm debris contractors will be driving down every public road collecting storm debris for the entire city. We’re also experiencing challenges with residents placing additional debris out to the curbside after their street's initial collection. So we’re asking residents to place all of their materials out to the curb within the next 10 days." said Rene Schwartz, Public Information Officer for Solid Waste Management.