Clean up efforts continue in Monroe County weeks after tornado

Residents, volunteers, and crews from across Mississippi and Alabama are doing what they can to clear debris

AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – The clean-up process is in full swing in Monroe County.

Residents, volunteers, and crews from across Mississippi and Alabama are doing what they can to clear debris from the EF-3 tornado that hit Amory and Wren.

Debris is lined up nearly all over town in Amory; crews are piling up as much as they can and trying to clear the roads, so traffic can move safely through and people can get a better view of their homes.

The clean-up crews WCBI talked to have some tips to help make the process run more smoothly.

Crews from all over the twin states have come to Amory to help clean up the debris left by a tornado that hit the town last month.

Companies from the coast and even Alabama have been in town for days trying to clean areas one road at a time.

Matthew Smith is just one of over twenty people that came to Amory.

Smith said he’s been there for over 10 days and doesn’t plan on leaving until the job is done, but the work is harder than some may think.

“Tornado damage is a lot more difficult to clean up because it’s all mixed up and people aren’t thinking about separating the construction debris from the vegetative debris so it’s a lot more difficult than most jobs,” said Smith.

Smith said he and the other crews load up their trucks and take the debris to a temporary scrap yard and other teams try to burn as much of the wood as possible.

He encouraged people to separate their debris.

One pile can be vegetation that consists of things like tree debris.

The other pile can be household and construction debris and those are things that fall from your home or around it.

Ms. Moreland is an Amory resident. She said she had no idea a storm had hit her town until the next morning when she saw the destruction.

Moreland said she wasn’t able to move any of the debris but she encouraged her son to make it easier for the people who have to come and pick it up.

“I have not done any of it. I’m not able. My son has; my son lives out on Philip Schoola Road and he’s the one that has come and piled all this stuff up,” said Moreland.

Plans to begin debris removal today were postponed, but a Monroe County crew is expected to start picking up tomorrow morning beginning at Community Bank in Amory.

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