It has been one week since the storm that brought hurricane-force winds to much of the metroplex.
Garland was one of the hardest-hit cities and now, the mayor is in the process of issuing a disaster proclamation to help residents get the resources they need. The disaster declaration will make it easier for the city and residents to apply for financial relief.
“It is one of the many steps in recovery from an incident like this,” said City of Garland Mayor Scott LeMay. “Obviously, there are damage thresholds that have to be met along the way. So we are, with the help of our citizens, cataloging that damage. As the disaster recovery continues, having that information allows us to then hopefully allow for assistance for residents and for home repairs on any of the damages they may have suffered during the storm.”
Clean-up continues across the city, but storms that have popped up almost every day since last Tuesday has slowed down that process.
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"It's frustrating because, every day since the storm we've had heavy rains. Which, all that does is just slows everything down, if not stop, all of our recovery efforts. And that is very, very frustrating for all of us,” said LeMay.
TREE DEBRIS
The amount of fallen trees and branches have been one of the most challenging parts of the clean-up effort for many. The storm cut a large path across the entire city of Garland.
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"I went out several days ago with a Garland Power & Light crew to survey the damage, and as we turned into a neighborhood, it looked like every tornado area I have ever toured," said LeMay. "It had that same look -- minus maybe as much of the structural damage -- but the trees, the fences, the debris was certainly equal to any tornado I've ever seen."
There are some streets that still have huge piles of tree debris, as crews make their way through pickups. LeMay said so far, the city crews have removed 1,900 tons of tree debris, which is three times higher than their normal intake.
They've now matched the amount of debris from the 2019 tornado, with still hundreds more tons of debris to remove.
"Our crews are working six days a week. They're working sunup to sunset to clear as much as they possibly can,” said LeMay.
The mayor says city crews have been making their way through the neighborhoods and will soon bring in contract crews to help expedite the removal process.
“We've identified kind of three hot spots that have a large amount of debris. Those contract crews will start working in those areas on Wednesday,” said LeMay.
As residents continue to build piles of debris at the curb during the clean up process, the city estimates it could take three more weeks to clear out all of the debris from the May 28 storm.
RELIEF AND RESOURCES
Meantime, the city has also set up a resource center with the help of a nonprofit and the Saturn Road Church of Christ.
They are providing home supplies, toiletries, food, and a connection to resources for those who need help with roof tarps and debris removal. They're also signing up anyone who is willing to volunteer and help families clean up.
If you need help and supplies or just want to volunteer, visit the staging location at the church on 3030 Saturn Road in Garland or text 972-997-1836
Additionally, the City of Garland designated libraries and recreation centers as areas for residents who need air conditioning, charging outlets for electronic devices, access to Wi-Fi, or the use of computers.
Below is a list of the locations and hours.
POWER UPDATE
When it comes to power outages, crews have made huge improvements in the last two days.
In Garland, about 350 homes were still without electricity as of Tuesday morning – down from thousands several days ago.
Crews are now making individual service restorations, which could include repairing individual service lines and reconnecting power to homes that can safely receive service.
According to the Oncor outage map, around 1,000 outages were reported in the rest of Dallas County as of Tuesday.
The long-term outages involve homes or businesses with a meter box or power lines that were damaged directly by debris. In that case, an electrician must first come out and make the repair to the home or business before the energy crew can reconnect the power.
“We're waiving permit fees. We're expediting permits and inspections when the work is complete. So we're doing everything we can on our end to just expedite getting this power back on as quickly as we can,” said LeMay.
