‘Pure chaos’: North Augusta cleanup could last into April of next year
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - On the South Carolina side, North Augusta bore the brunt of Helene’s damaging winds.
One month later, debris continues to pile up as neighbors cut away the aftermath, causing quite the eyesore.
FEMA offers the incentive of paying for cleanup, as long as it’s finished within the first 90 days.
North Augusta however, is already estimating cleanup could last into April of next year.
The city, out-of-state businesses and local crews are all working to get the CSRA cleaned up as quickly as possible and back to a new normal, but officials are saying it’ll be months before that could happen.
On Monday, the North Augusta City Council approved two contractors to help with debris removal. Southern Disaster Recovery to help remove debris, and Tetra Tech Inc. to monitor the cleanup on city roads.
The city council also approved for the city to move forward with contract negotiations for R and R Tree Service to help cut trees and remove debris for places like the Greeneway and parks in the city.
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“It has been hectic,” said Nicholas Mantooth, with Southern Grind Stump and Tree Removal. “Pure chaos since the beginning.”
It’s been weeks of working around the clock for Mantooth and the rest of the Southern Grind team.
“The first six hours, we had over 1,000 phone calls,” he said. “I think we’re on day 21 or 22 of the storm, and we’re still cutting trees off of houses.”
“It’s just constantly staying at 400 to 500 estimates of people that still need trees down, that are wind damaged, that need to come down,” said Mantooth.
They’re doing up to five jobs a day, without an end in sight anytime soon.
“Coming March, will be 10 years that I have been doing tree removal on a professional level, and I have never seen this,” he said. “I have friends and colleagues that are still in business, been in business for 30 plus years, and they have never seen anything like this. This is a once-in-millennial storm.”
They are clearing away a sight nobody wants to see and everyone is working hard to get rid of it.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to go, but it’s going to be for a while, and we’re going to be here to help as long as we possibly can,” said Mantooth.
The counties are all hoping to hit that 90-day mark to get the full reimbursement for debris cleanup from FEMA, or else it will drop to 75%.
On Monday, North Augusta city leaders approved cleanup hours for debris removal.
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The city says it is allowing cleanup to last until April 19th, with workers out from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily.
City officials say if you need to take personal debris you can bring it to the Barden C and D Landfill.
If you have a leaning tree, they say you should the city clerk.
It’s not just adults ready for this, even kids say they’re ready for the fallen trees to be gone so it’s safer to go outside.
“It’s hard because you could trip and fall and hurt yourself,” said North Augusta resident, Audrey Fowley. “We played soccer a lot, and the ball went into the bushes and we couldn’t get it back because there was a big tree there, and the ball got stuck in there.”
The city is encouraging people to be patient as crews continue to cleanup.
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