Storm damage costs may be enough for federal funding
9:29 p.m. Monday, March 13, 2006
The sound of chainsaws could be found anywhere in Lawrence on Monday as homeowners tore up what's left of their yards and dragged it to the curb.
"What I'm hoping is that they can just get the estimates done as soon as possible so that the repairs can be made,” said Tom Overholser, East Lawrence resident.
Power Outage
Anyone without power in the Lawrence area can call Westar Energy at 1-800-544-4857.
In East Lawrence, Ray Wiggins spent the day tearing apart trees and deciding whether to chop down his favorite pine.
"The neighbor said it went down and slapped the ground and snapped back up,” Wiggins said. “Now, it's just leaning more as the minutes go by."
"They are blanketing the community. We have folks dedicated to a variety of different things; one would be picking up all the debris at curbside,” said Lisa Patterson, City of Lawrence.
The city will continue to pick up tree pieces at the curb through Wednesday and has opened a drop-off for woody debris at 1901 Wakarusa Dr.
Officials said all streets are open and a state assessment team will work to tally up the damage to downtown.
"They also sent some folks into the neighborhoods to try and identify and understand the scope of how bad it is,” said Paula Phillips, Douglas County Emergency Management.
They won't have that estimate until later this week, but believe it will top the $3 million needed to ask for federal funding.
The city of Lawrence wants residents to let them know about any damaged or missing street signs and dangerous hanging tree limbs in their area.
Westar officials said 390 homes are still without power.
Westar said less than 100 people will be without power by morning as they continue to work through the night.
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