More than 80,000 cubic yards of storm debris collected in Spartanburg Co.

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Spartanburg County officials said they are making progress on the biggest storm debris clean up they have ever experienced.

Brenda Robinson has lived in the Park Hill neighborhood for more than 30 years. She told 7NEWS she has never seen a storm cause this much damage on her street.

“Never, not in my whole life. I have never, and I am 73 years old,” Robinson said.

Robinson said the storm impacted her neighborhood and surrounding counties, taking down branches and trees throughout.

“It has left a lasting impact I think on the entire community,” Robinson added. “Down at the bottom the street, it was blocked off because trees fell everywhere.”

Weeks later, residents are preparing that debris for pick up. A few miles down the road from Robinson’s home in Park Hill is one of the sites where debris is being taken.

“We are at the Spartanburg Downtown Airport,” said Scottie Kay Blackwell, Communications Manager for Spartanburg County. “This is one of four currently open debris management sites, we are hoping to open up seven in total.”

The county said they have 30 trucks picking up debris and taking it to debris management sites, like the one at the airport, where it will later be ground up and hauled away.

Blackwell said that crews have been officially collecting storm debris since October 7.

“Just in the short amount of time that we have been collecting debris we already picked up and hauled off 80,000 cubic yards of debris. So, a lot of progress already made. We have a really dedicated team that has been working from sun up to sun down,” Blackwell said.

The county said crews are starting on the bigger roads first and will then move on to the smaller, less traveled roadways.

“The good news is we spread our crews out across the county, so there are several trucks in each district or region in the county currently picking up debris. It’s not like we are starting at the center of Spartanburg and working our way out, we have crews all across the county,” Blackwell added. “We cannot guarantee a date and time that the debris will be picked up from your yards just understand that it is coming and we ask for your continued patience.”

The county said that the cleanup will take several months and could possibly go into the next calendar year.

The county is asking debris be placed at the edge of your property, not on the roadway, and away from fire hydrants, mailboxes and standing trees.

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