Coastal Solutions

What happens to all the debris?

Lesley Ewing

One thing all the survey team noticed when we got to Galveston and Bolivar was the debris.  Margery Overton was the first to put our observation into words, “What happens to all the debris?”  The bureaucratic answer is that the Corps of Engineers and FEMA are responsible for clean-up.  And, it seems that everyone who owned or could rent a Bobcat or truck had gone into the debris removal business.  Signs sprouted up almost overnight to people who could do debris removal, mold removal, roof repairs, sand clearing and such.  In the main communities, debris clean-up was well underway by the time we arrived.  There were organized piles of debris at the curbs; often appliances, yard material and household waste had been sorted into separate piles for pick up.  Many communities had established temporary debris disposal sites and there were rows of trucks waiting to get in.  The trucks all had their capacity written on the side.  The communities are reimbursed for debris removal but since there are no scales at the temporary disposal sites to weigh the trucks, the trash is measured by volume.

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Photos courtesy of ASCE Investigative Team and FEMA

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Our first article summarizes an investigative team member’s first impressions on a visit to Galveston Island, TX October 3-5, 2008. See the engineering summary and photographs of the team visit.

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Investigation Team Report – Part 1

Lesley Ewing

The coastal field investigation teams met in Galveston on the evening on October 3^rd.. The drive from Houston provided an introduction to the storm damage – several of the high rise buildings in downtown Houston had lost windows, there were damaged buildings on both sides of the highway, many boats on the side of the road as we crossed the causeway to Galveston and several trailer loads of damaged cars were being carried off island. All the out-of-town team members had been able to get hotel rooms in Moody Gardens, one of the hotels being used by the Red Cross and other volunteer groups. There was a curfew on the island from 7 PM till 6 AM and all drinking water needed to be boiled. The hotel had most services restored, but the restaurant had to close in time for the staff to leave before curfew and most people missed dinner on the first night.

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