Bob Foos
Depending on which part of town you’re in, you might think the city has abandoned its promise to pick up tree limbs in the aftermath of the June 13 strong winds.
Not so. City Administrator Carl Francis reported that as of Monday, 407 loads, or 5,768 cubic yards of trees had been hauled off. Trees in heavy-traffic areas were hauled away first.
“We are continuing to run loads every day,” says Francis. There are six trucks devoted to the effort, and yet, he says they have barely gotten the areas north of MacArthur Drive/Highway 171 done so far.
Look for those trucks to be moving to the south part of town soon.
If he had to guess, Francis says he thinks it will take another month to get it all cleaned up.
Members of the Missouri Baptist Convention Disaster Relief Collegiate Team cleared trees from the properties of six elderly Webb City residents during their three-day stay here this week.
They answered the call from Darren Chitwood, a pastor of Risen Ranch Cowboy Church, south of Carthage, and foreman of Webb City’s wastewater department.
Chitwood said he called the organization after learning that City Hall had received requests for help from some elderly and disabled residents.
Meals for the team were provided by First Baptist Church of Webb City, Emmanuel Baptist Church and Risen Ranch Cowboy Church. The team was housed at the Baptist Student Union.
Henkle’s Ace Hardware sharpened the group’s chain saws as needed.
The collegiate team is an annual 10-week program based in Jefferson City, but most team members are from other states.
Aaron Werner, team coordinator, noted that this year’s team started on May 31 with a flood training exercise at the building in Carterville that housed the former Baptist Church. An undetected leak there gave the team experience in flood cleanup and mold removal.
Since then, the team has helped out at Mt. Vernon, Kansas City and St. Louis.
After finishing six properties, each with a lot of tree damage, the group is leaving here to do flood cleanup in Louisiana.
