LORAIN, Ohio — News 5 is following through on the clean-up from last month's severe storms. Three weeks ago, torrential rains flooded communities across Northeast Ohio, leaving people with a mess to deal with and trash from those storms is still left uncollected.
Residents told News 5 they are fed up and disappointed with the city's lack of urgency to push Republic trash collection to clean up faster.
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Couches, carpets, and chairs have been sitting, waiting day after day to be collected. Homeowner Kurt Simmons has had enough.
“We need help,” Simmons said. “We need this stuff removed. You wonder when they're going to pick it up?”
Other homeowners like Herson Rivera are asking the same question.
“It's pretty sad,” Rivera said. “They can't keep up with it or pick it up. The city is not trying to help get rid of that stuff.”
Clean-up efforts were moving along days after the storm, but it all came to a halt when bulk trash stopped getting collected.
“Today is actually the third week that this material has sat out there,” Simmons added.
Republic trash collection wouldn’t do an on-camera interview, but in a statement Monday, it said their collection volume is 10 times its normal volume. The company adds it hopes to be back on schedule in the coming weeks. Despite that response, Simmons and Rivera want to see more of a push from the city to help speed up the progress.
“I am not sure why there's that lack of urgency,” Rivera said. “It's a pretty sad situation.”
News 5 brought their concerns to the City of Lorain Director of Public Safety and Services, Stanford Washington Jr. and asked why there has been a lack of urgency from the city to help with cleanup.
“Republic services has been working with the city trying to get back in those areas using any kind of extra trucks they have from other communities because the entire county was hit,” Washington said. “You're not being ignored. We hear a lot of you.”
Washington said the issue is sheer volume and that people are putting more in their yards that exceed four feet in width and 40 pounds in weight. Washington added that the city will continue to be using Republic for trash removal services. He said in the meantime, the city is going to work on spreading awareness about bulk removal requirements if another storm of this magnitude were to hit again.
“I am quite sure Republic is doing their best they have been,” added Washington. “No one has a carte blanche way of responding to a huge emergency like we faced.”
Residents are trying to remain hopeful, but each week that passes, their patience continues to get pushed.
“Don't know why or when the city or the garbage collection company is going to get busy and get about business,” said Simmons.
