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Sikeston mayor gives update on city’s tornado recovery
SIKESTON — Sikeston Mayor Greg Turnbow provided an update on the city’s recovery from the May 26 EF3 tornado during the Sikeston Regional Chamber luncheon Thursday, July 18 at the Clinton Building.
During the update, Turnbrow addressed curbside debris pickup; yard waste disposal site (compost site) operations; Federal Emeregency Managaement Agency, or FEMA, disaster declaration; and ongoing assessment of the city’s needs and next steps.
“City contractors finished the last of their curbside debris pickups last week,” Turnbow said in his update. “City crews are still picking up some curbside debris outside of the contracted areas.”
The city is likely to contract for one more round of curbside pickup with a drop-dead date after which no more curbside items will be picked up, the mayor said, adding details will be announced at a future date.
There are still some piles of mixed debris that residents will need to separate (into woody debris vs. construction debris vs. asphalt shingles) before it can be picked up, Turnbow said. There are still some piles of debris that were brought to the curb after the deadline for the first round of contracted pickup that will have to wait for the next round of pickup, he said.
“The compost site is closed this week and weekend as city crews clean up and organize after the completion of the contracted curbside pickup,” he said.
New compost site hours and days will be announced next week.
State Emergency Management Agency and FEMA teams were in Sikeston several weeks ago assessing damage.
All the paperwork has been submitted from SEMA and FEMA regional offices to Washington.
“Now we’re just waiting on the FEMA in Washington to make a declaration. We are hopeful that we’ll get a declaration that includes both Public Assistance (to the city) and Individual Assistance (directly to residents), but we must wait for Washington Declarations from April events in New Hampshire and Kansas were only just made last week, so our late May event could still be in the queue,” the mayor said.
In addition, Turnbow said the city has released a survey via Facebook for residents to fill out to help assess what needs still exist.
The Street Division is assessing what piles of debris still need to be picked up curbside. The City Manager’s Office is conducting a street-by-street assessment of where damaged homes and debris on private property still exist.
“All this information will help us determine what the city’s next steps are, which will also depend on whether we get a disaster declaration or not,” Turnbow said in his update.
Between residents, volunteers, city employees and city contractors: there have been 1,814 truck loads; 3,159 trailer loads; and 47,809 cubic yards of debris taken to the yard waste disposal site (compost site).