Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
“So, of course, the world I live in is the world of debris,” said Allen Cook as he began his county manager’s report last week.
Cook updated the Mitchell County Board of Commissioners on the status of debris removal in the county and explained the process for getting debris removed from private property and waterways.
Mitchell County has a Helene Hotline designed to handle a variety of requests, including getting started on the debris removal process. The phone number for that hotline is (828) 537-1441. Residents who need to have debris removed from private property, gated communities, and waterways should call the hotline to begin the process of submitting a request.
“Right now, on debris, we’re kind of phasing out SDR in the county,” Cook said. “Over the next couple weeks, you’re going to see CrowderGulf doing debris removal in Mitchell County.”
Southern Disaster Recovery, which operates out of Greer, South Carolina has been handling much of Mitchell’s debris removal up until now. CrowderGulf Disaster Recovery and Debris Management is a disaster recovery business that operates out of Mobile, Alabama.
“CrowderGulf, we’re not sharing with the surrounding counties; they’re one of the bigger debris removal companies in the country and they have big equipment,” Cook said.
Mitchell County has previously expressed concern that SDR did not have the capacity to handle all of the area’s debris removal needs.
Mitchell County has chosen to let the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers oversee waterway debris removal, and the Corps is working with the debris contractor AshBritt to remove downed trees and other flood leavings from waterways.
Cook said that like other recovery contractors, AshBritt will be looking for local subcontractors to help with the removal process.
Cook said that special measures will be taken to protect waterways and banks during the debris collection.
“They will lay down a log mat where they go into the stream, so they won’t hurt the bank,” he said. “They’re doing this with all the max environmental regulations that are required.”
Cook said that in order to deal with the increased fire risk related to excess storm debris the county is asking the state government to assign a forest ranger to this area. However, he noted that North Carolina currently has approximately 30 unfilled forest ranger vacancies, meaning it might be difficult to hire one here.
Board Chairman Jeff Harding praised the work of county employees in the disaster recovery process. He also encouraged everyone struggling with storm cleanup to try to remain hopeful throughout the process.
“Don’t let frustration or negativity drive the train; keep your hope and be strong,” Hardin said. “Folks, we’ve still got a lot of our citizens that need help and are desperate, so don’t forget your neighbor, don’t become complacent and forget what happened in this county.”