Politics & Government

Mayor: 75 Percent Of Storm Debris Has Been Cleared

Township officials say the majority of the debris has now been hauled away.

It's been three weeks since flood waters from Hurricane Irene devastated Cranford and as the cleanup continues, township officials say that about 75 percent of the debris has been removed from curbsides throughout the township.

Local and county public works crews have methodically been moving from street to street, and hauling it to the Conservation and Recycling Center on Birchwood Avenue, where all of it will then be transported to the Newark rail line and eventually hauled out of state.

Residents are asked to put all remaining storm damaged items out by Sept. 30 for the final pick up. Mayor Daniel Aschenbach said 75 percent of the debris has already been cleared.

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"In less than one month since Hurricane Irene severely damaged many areas of Cranford, our crews working six days a week, have cleaned up most of the storm damaged neighborhoods," Aschenbach said.

After the initial storm assessment, the clean up time was expected to take two months considering the extent of the flooding and the amount of debris. More than 1,600 homes and 53 businesses were impacted resulting in almost 70,000 tons of debris that needed to be collected and brought to the Conservation Center, township officials said in a press release. The Department of Public Works crews also had to remove trees and limbs that fell during and after the storm.

"Our goal was to remove the large piles of storm damaged items quickly to protect the health and safety of the public and restore neighborhoods. Many residents suffered huge losses and we wanted to at least clean up their streets as quickly as possible," Aschenbach said.

The mayor said the accelerated clean up also meant significant savings for the township.

Find out what's happening in Cranfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"This a very costly operation even with FEMA assistance but we were able to reduce costs by working six days a week and bringing in assistance," he added.

Township officials said that if residents have small electronic items that haven't been picked up yet such as televisions, computers, video equipment and radios, they can bring them directly to the Public Works Round House on North Avenue. These include televisions, computers, radios and video equipment.

In addition to the local DPW, other public owrks crews also assited in hauling away bulky waste following the storm. Aschenbach said the county, the NJ Department of Transportation and the Scotch Plains Department of Public Works were also instrumental. Private haulers were also hired to "speed the collection and return neighborhoods to pre-storm condition," the mayor said.

Last weekend, several volunteers dubbed the "Broom Patrol," helped residents to sweep up their streets and sidewalks after the debris was hauled away.


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