By DAVID TUMA
The Belton Journal
In the aftermath of the severe weather that caused massive damage in West Temple and the surrounding areas, Belton Public Works is still cleaning up brush throughout the city over a month later.
On the night of the storm, city crews worked until 4 a.m. clearing the streets after 100-mph winds knocked trees and limbs all over town.
One of the hardest hit areas was in the Leon Heights area in the city.
City offices were closed the next day. The city opened the Emergency Operation Center the night of the storm. The following day, parts of downtown Belton were without power, including City Hall.
Work crews cleared enough streets that Waste Management collected trash the day following the storm.
“We decided to try to clean up the brush in-house. We had recently purchased a new brush truck and kept the old one. During this event, we were able to use two brush trucks. The city rented equipment to help the work crews collect brush and clear roadways. Usually, we take the brush to the Temple Wastewater Treatment plant for disposal. They were full so we got TECQ approval to burn brush at the Police Department Firing Range,” said Matt Bates, Assistant City Manager.
“The community response to this event was tremendous. There were lots of people volunteering across the community. City crews and volunteers worked through the weekend. First Baptist Church volunteers provided food for the work crews. The total (amount of brush0 collected through June 22 was 17,015 cubic yards. A normal busy day for the City of Belton collecting brush is 90 cubic yards,” Bates added. “We created a map of where work crews were going to be each day. There was some brush mixed with trash. We can’t burn trash. The amount of brush collected (if stacked) was higher than the tallest building on earth.”
