Gina Barta grabs a bundle of branches in the back of her pickup truck that she would toss into a growing pile of tree limbs and stumps at the city's rodeo arena parking lot Friday afternoon. Barta said it was her sixth trip to the lot since she started cleaning up after a winter storm caused damage and uprooted trees last week.
Days after a storm some are dubbing the "Wyocane" hit Green River, people were still cleaning up.
Trucks with loads of branches and trees could be seen arriving and leaving the city's rodeo grounds parking lot Friday.
The city opened the lot to residents looking for a place to dump trees and branches that had been knocked over during the storm.
By Friday afternoon, a massive green wall had been erected as residents continued their cleanup efforts. Steve Core, the communications manager for the city, said plans were in place to bring a large grinder in to mulch the material. He said the mulch would be given away to the public and used as a covering at some sections of the Green River Landfill.
"It will be a heck of project, but that's the plan," Core wrote in an email to the Star.
For many residents, it took multiple trips to the rodeo arena's lot to dispose of all the foliage.
"I've been out here four times," Steve Edwards said Friday afternoon. "I'm not done yet."
Edwards said a tree was blown onto his camper, extending onto a corner of his house. He said the camper took most of the tree, but said he and his wife counted themselves lucky after seeing how much damage other people were dealing with.
Residents weren't the only people seeing damage to their property. The city reported several trees getting blown over and damage to roofs on park structures. At Riverview Cemetery, 35 trees were blown over, 25 of which were tall pine trees.
As of Monday, Brad Raney, director of parks and recreation for the city, said many of the pine trees were still down at the cemetery because their size made it difficult for parks workers to move. He said some of the headstones were damaged by trees, with a few of them being lifted when nearby root balls were pushed up as the trees fell.
Raney said the department continues to evaluate damages at the cemetery and hoped the headstones can be easily replaced.
"We're hoping we can just put them back in if we can," Raney said.
Insurance claims were being filed a week after the storm according to Elysha Pate, an Allstate Insurance agent in Green River.
"Tree damage has been the main problem," Pate said. "Trees falling on cars, houses, power lines ... at this time I don't have an estimate on claims as people are still calling in as they see what damages they have after cleaning up the mess."
She said a lot of people couldn't get estimates for damage as everyone was busy with the aftermath of the storm.
"Patience will be key," she said.
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