MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — Mt. Juliet is ramping up its storm debris cleanup effort, bringing in outside contractors to clear thousands of cubic yards of debris left behind by January's ice storm.
Crews began contracted cleanup work more than a month after the ice melted and are expected to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week until the job is done.
Justin Beasley with the city of Mt. Juliet said the city's two grapple trucks were not enough to handle the scale of damage left by the storm.
"So, instead of six months we can probably do this in six weeks. So, that's what we're going with right now. These guys behind me are working 12 hours a day for seven days a week until the mess is finally done," Beasley said.
City leaders approved bringing in outside contractors to speed up the process a step they have taken before following tornadoes and other major storms.
"When you have a snow event, an ice event like this that impacted every tree in the city to a large degree, it's just warranted," Beasley said.
One debris pile at the site already measures about 5,000 cubic yards the equivalent of nearly 500 dump trucks worth of material. By the time cleanup is complete, Beasley said crews expect to remove nearly five times that amount. Once collected, all of the debris will be ground up and spread on site.
Crews will move through the city zone by zone. Beasley said residents can help keep the operation running smoothly by following a few simple guidelines for placing debris.
"Don't block the sidewalks. Don't put them actually in the roadway. No further than 10 feet is what we allow, and also keep it to just vegetative debris as well," Beasley said.
The cleanup is expected to take six to seven weeks.
Are you dealing with storm debris at your home or business? We want to hear from you. Watch our full report and share your experience with our reporter directly at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com. Your story could help your neighbors know what to expect as cleanup moves zone by zone across Mt. Juliet.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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