Crews Starting Widespread Cleanup Efforts In Overton Thursday

Crews began an expected long cleanup process in Overton County Wednesday.

Overton County EMA Director Chris Masiongale said work was focused on the Hanging Limb area today. A larger,widespread effort is taking place Thursday.

“We’ve had about 300 requests so far for debris removal, and we will prioritize those for people who have trees on their house, something wrong with the roof and the roof is leaking,”Masiongale said.”Because we have the bad weather coming in for the rest of this week, we will be taking care of those first.”

Masiongale said areas from Standing Stone all the way back to Willow Grove Highway has lots of debris. Masiongale said volunteer groups such as Inspiritus and Team Rubicon or assisting, but clearing the debris is expected to take a month.

“If people want to move debris on their own, we just ask that they take it to the edge of the road so the county can come through and pick that up for them,” Masiongale said. “Those that need debris removal from their yards, these two teams will take care of that.”

Masiongale said emergency services are also asking for volunteer electricians to assist home owners. The hotline to request assistant is 403-HELP.