Debris trucks hit Selma streets

With 40 giant grapple trucks traversing Selma city streets to pick up the mounds of tornado debris from the Jan. 12 EF-2 storm, motorists find themselves having to turn around or maneuver around them throughout the day.

But you won’t see anyone complaining.

It took five weeks for the city to secure federal funding and for the state to sign a contract to get the trucks mobilized from their parking spots all over Selma and start picking up the giant piles of debris so the city could move on from the damaged caused in the surprise winter storm.

“It’s a great day,” Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. said on Feb. 17, the first day trucks began hauling off uprooted trees and pieces of shattered buildings that have been stacked along city streets.

The Alabama Department of Transportation contracted with Looks Great Inc., the same Mississippi-based company that picked up debris in Selma after Hurricane Zeta, to handle the tornado cleanup and monitoring.

FEMA will reimburse the state 100% for debris removal performed within 30 days. FEMA typically covers 75% of debris pick up, but President Joe Biden agreed to cover all the cost of debris in the 10 Alabama counties affected by the tornado.

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Perkins said he will be watching how much debris is getting picked up, because it will be up to the city to arrange for picking up any debris left on the ground after 30 days with typical 75% FEMA match. Perkins said he is working on a request for proposal in case it’s needed to pick up what’s left after 30 days, “but that’s hard to do when you don’t know how the quantity.”

Residents need to do their part to make sure debris is picked up, Perkins said. All debris needs to be at the curb, because the contractor can’t pick up items left in yards. No household garbage should be mixed in with storm debris. Information about debris guidelines can be found on the city of Selma or FEMA websites.

“We need to get debris out of yards and get it all up and out of here,” Perkins said.

Typically, local governments pick up the debris themselves or hire a contractor and accept the FEMA reimbursement. ALDOT stepped in to hire the contractor and will receive the reimbursement because Selma did not have the funds to pay the upfront costs, and it could not borrow the money because the city doesn’t currently have a bond or credit rating.

Despite criticism from citizens and some members of the city council, Perkins said moving too fast on debris removal could bankrupt the city. Perkins said in a statement after Biden agreed to cover 100% of the cost that “we can manage debris removal, continue day-to-day operations and focus on development without threatening the financial stability of our community.”

City Councilman Clay Carmichael, said on Facebook, “I certainly appreciate Mayor Perkins’ leadership and commend him for sticking to his guns on this (waiting on removing debris), despite much pressure from the community, myself included.”