HOUSTON – It’s been over a month and a half later since Hurricane Beryl ravaged Houston, and three months since the May derecho, but piles of storm debris continue to pile up in certain neighborhoods.
Many viewers have reached out to KPRC 2′s Help Desk about the debris not being picked up by the City of Houston as well.
RELATED: Months-old debris collected at Houston school after KPRC 2 reaches out to city’s waste management
One help desk message came from the Montessori Children’s Cottage. The school is nestled in the Brookwood neighborhood along the Northwest Freeway. Karla Larsson, administrative director at Montessori Children’s Cottage, recalled the damage from the derecho and Hurricane Beryl.
“The hurricane blew over all our fences and the trees fell onto the fence, so we had to replace all of the fence” she said.
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She said it took time and money to clean up their school and now, she just wants the city to do their part and pick up the debris. On Thursday evening, a debris truck picked up the months old branches.
This is not the first time though that KPRC 2 has stepped in to help! On Wednesday, KPRC 2′s Deven Clarke spoke to a family in the Garden Oaks neighborhood of northwest Harris County, who was still dealing with a huge debris pile from Beryl—more than 40 days after the tropical storm hit the Houston area.
SEE OUR FIRST REPORT: Post-Beryl debris piles now decaying, causing issues for families and school kids diverted into busy street, viewers say
One day later, the debris has finally been removed!
Linda and Rusty Reichle sent Deven a video, showing off their newly cleared yard.
“The damage is gone, all of the trash and debris is gone, and we couldn’t have done it without [Deven] and Channel 2,” Rusty said in the video.
The Reichles first called 311 in the days immediately following the hurricane. After weeks without assistance, they contacted their local councilman’s office and even the mayor’s office, all to no avail.
KPRC 2 also spoke with the mayor’s office, and they promised us that the issue would be resolved.
We also contacted Houston’s Solid Waste Department, and they also promised that action would be taken quickly. With any luck, all the storm debris will be picked up soon and life can return to normal for all Houston residents.
The Houston Solid Waste Department sent the following statement Friday:
August is bulk waste month, and our city crews are still working to collect curbside debris. For storm debris operations, demolition/construction debris (such as fences, roof shingles, building materials, etc.) will be collected by the storm debris contractors during the second pass. According to the storm debris map on our website City of Houston - Debris Hauling Progress Dashboard - Derecho 2024 (Public) (arcgis.com), crews have completed the first pass of collections in this area. However, the task is challenging as residents continue to place debris out after we have already collected in the area. It is important to note that trucks collecting vegetative storm debris are separate from trucks collecting demolition and construction debris. Therefore, Houstonians need to separate their storm debris piles for collection. Additionally, the second pass for storm debris collections will start on September 2nd and all residents will see collections in their neighborhood again.
Another important distinction for bagging yard waste is this: Tree Waste month begins September 3rd
1. For tree waste, we ask residents not to bag any vegetative debris. Only yard waste and small branches should be in biodegradable bags.
2. We ask residents to leave storm debris in a pile at the curbside at least 3 feet away from any obstructions, and please do not place debris under power lines, in front of vehicles, or in ditches.
Heavy trash/bulk waste collection, is running about a week behind schedule as of today, given the large volume of debris that is being setout. We encourage all Houstonians who receive City services for garbage/recycling/curbside services to download the HTX Collects app. This is the best place to get service schedules, alerts, and drop-off locations — another great resource for Houston residents who want to dispose of their debris sooner.