Debris Removal is a Mess

I mean that both figuratively and literally. After I listened to the news last night, I realized how lucky my neighborhood was to get the debris picked up yesterday. FEMA funding for private contractors to pick up the debris ended last night. Texas Gov. Perry’s request to have the FEMA funding extended was denied. Rep. Poe is still fighting for the funding. Now the county will have to pay 25 percent of the cleanup costs or request the Army Corp of Engineer to come in here. They say that will cost taxpayers an additional 18 million dollars. County Fighting for Full Federal Funding of Debris Removal

The other reason the clean up is a mess is that the street was full of glass, nails and shingles after the contract trash crew left. There was a big pile of rocks still on the common area. I do not have a clue who put those rocks out there. I finally went to the grocery store. When I came back, three of my seventy-plus year old neighbors were out there cleaning up the mess.

We have little medians planted with flowers and shrubs at the entrance to each street. There were big gas lamps in the medians. Hurricane Rita knocked the gas lamps down. The homes association has decided to replace the gas lamps with electric lamps because natural gas is going to cost so much. A neighbor told me the gas bill for the two lamps was running $100 a month already. I did not realize it was that much. Anyway one of the elderly gentlemen was out yesterday trying to dig up the concrete slab in which the lamp pole was set. I stopped and told him I thought we should hire someone to do that hard work.