NORMAN, Okla. (KFOR) — One month after a major line of storms hit Norman, residents say they are frustrated that storm debris still has not been picked up.
News 4 went looking for answers. While the city cannot give a strict timeline, they have doubled their crews to hopefully help speed up the process. “It’s obviously an eyesore. I believe, in our area, it was supposed to be picked up on July 23rd. It’s just been very frustrating,” said Chad Thralkill, who has storm debris.
On July 4th, storms hit the area hard, knocking down trees, power lines, and other debris. “It’s been sitting there ever since, and it’s killing the grass,” said Thralkill. “The grass will be dead where it’s at right now it’s a big spot. It’s just been a big inconvenience.”
July 4th storms pack a punch across OK
An inconvenience the City of Norman says they’re working as fast as possible to clean up.“This is a very dramatic storm. So we brought in both our streets and our stormwater crews, a total of about 30 guys,” said Scott Sturtz, Director of Public Works for the City of Norman.
The city says the storm damage was citywide, adding to the timeline. The City of Norman is about 190 square miles. Sturtz tells News 4 cleanup has been happening since day one.“This last week, we realized that we just weren’t getting the production we needed, so we doubled that,” said Sturtz. “So we now have eight crews working, as well as some city crews, some pickup around town, or our utility sanitation is still doing yard waste pickup.”
The city says one of the hardest hit areas was near 36th and Robinson; that’s where News 4 found at least two trucks collecting debris Monday…