The first call for help came at 3 a.m., a few hours after the tornado warnings had been lifted. A woman from Westfield had awakened Tyler Oleksak, owner of T.J. Bark Mulch Inc., hoping he might help her dispose of all the trees that had fallen around her property. It was the first of many calls, and then Oleksak gave the towns Public Works Department a call to see whether they might coordinate. Within a few days, the Southwick company had hauled off at least 2,500 tons of debris. Theres a lot of work to go around, Oleksak said.
As state and local governments move from the rescue and recovery phase to cleaning up after last weeks deadly tornadoes, they are grappling with how to remove an untold amount of debris, including mounds of rubble from hundreds of fallen buildings, the remains of thousands of splintered trees, and a multitude of other detritus filling yards and blocking roads across 20 communities in Central and Western Massachusetts. Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency met in Wilbraham yesterday with state and local emergency management and public works officials to discuss how best to coordinate debris removal that will probably cost tens of millions of dollars. Cities and towns, nine of which suffered the bulk of the damage from three tornadoes that touched down, will have to follow strict federal guidelines before they can be compensated for the costs of the cleanup. Homeowners are expected to seek relief from their insurance companies.
Earlier this week, Barbara Anthony, undersecretary of the states Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, said that homeowners have already filed 5,000 insurance claims, totaling $90 million. This will be a giant project, Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said in an interview prior to yesterdays huddle. We have already had the National Guard, Department of Transportation, and Department of Conservation and Recreation out using chain saws, moving things to the side of roads, and making sure access is available. The removal will be a coordinated statewide attack that were now formulating.
At yesterdays meeting, FEMA officials said the federal government would cover 75 percent of the costs of all debris removal their field teams deem to qualify for federal aid. The rest will be covered by state and local governments, unless state officials or lawmakers decide that the state should cover all the costs. I want to assure you that you are not alone, John McGough, a public assistance branch chief for FEMA, said at the meeting.
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