Winona starts call to action for debris pickup from winter storm
WINONA, Miss. (WCBI) – Many area residents are still dealing with the fallout from Winter Storm Fern.
Cleanup has begun, but it’s still proving challenging to get downed trees and other debris out of yards, driveways, and even streets.
Winona is one of those cities finding itself in the middle of a widespread cleanup.
Winter Storm Fern in January left a majority of Winona residents without power and large amounts of debris on their property.
Many residents have been worried about how they were going to get things back to normal, even after things thawed out.
“It was tough for me, my wife, and the citizens of Winona,” Jerry Flowers said. “There wasn’t a light on inside of Winona; if you had a generator, you were the lucky ones who had light. Also, with the problems with the power, we didn’t have water for a number of days, and it was pretty rough.”
Power has been restored, and the weather has warmed up in the past week or so.
Now, Mayor Jerry Flowers is making a call to action to handle the debris scattered across the city.
The city has contracted with Looks Great Services of Mississippi Inc. to gather debris that has been brought to the roadside.
“I was talking to a lady the other day, and she was saying that I’ve got so much at the road, I can’t get anymore up there,” Flowers said. “I say well when you see them take that debris off in front of your house, get the people back and move whatever else you have because they are going to do two runs to Winona, I am making sure they do.”
Flowers says getting through the effects of the severe winter weather just shows the resilience of his city and neighbors.
“I commend the citizens of Winona, they stood in there with us because we were doing everything we could with AP Pratt and with our 911 emergency, police and our firemen, the street department, the water department and, the employees of Winona went over and beyond the call of duty and the citizens have hung in there with us,” Flowers said.
There were also more than 150 linemen who restored the power in Winona and surrounding areas in Montgomery County.
