NEW YORK—On Clyde Street in Forest Hill, Queens, Donna-Marie Goedtel’s house is surrounded by yellow tape, designated a danger zone. Wires hang everywhere, a lamppost rests on a tree limb, and the front lawn is full of obstacles, trapping her handicapped mother and a neighboring handicapped child primarily indoors.
Goedtel’s devastated yard is an example of the urgent cleanup still under way in Queens and Brooklyn following the violent storm that ripped through the city a week ago.
Goedtel is remaining optimistic. She said the fire department quickly removed fallen trees directly blocking the entrance to Goedtel’s house last week. Con Ed restored her power within 24 hours and the damage to her roof is being repaired.
“They’re doing a great job getting the phones back,” said Goedtel of Verizon.
City, volunteer, and contract workers are working around the clock on cleanup. Though not a tornado as initially thought, the storm has been classified as a macroburst, a straight-line wind that can hit with the force of a tornado.
The impact of the macroburst far surpassed that of the notoriously destructive Hurricane Gloria 25 years ago, said Vicki Karp, director of Public Affairs for the Department of Parks and Recreation.
“We’re one-third through [cleaning up], we’re way ahead of schedule,” reported Karp at a press conference on Thursday.
Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe encouraged citizens to be patient as the city continues to clean up the extensive damage.
City trucks and contractors line the streets from Forest Hills to Middle Village continuing to remove fallen trees and limbs. The debris is being processed into wood chips to be sold or recycled.
Many old-growth trees were lost in the incident. Although Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe acknowledged this as an irreparable loss, he remained grateful for Mayor Bloomberg’s Million Trees NYC program, which provides a generous budget for planting new trees.
Reparation of damages is expected to cost around $10 million for the Parks Department alone.
Though progress is being made, officials are hesitant to give an estimate on how long cleanup will take.
“Nobody wants to say it’ll take two, or it’ll take four weeks, because what if it takes five or six?” said Karp.
Coordination with Con Edison is one obstacle to efficient cleanup. Parks workers arrive at a site to clear fallen trees, but are unable to proceed because they are unqualified to fix problems with fallen power lines, explained Karp.
Con Edison is advising people to treat all wires as if they are live and not attempt to touch or move them. The Parks Department is also advising homeowners not to attempt taking care of fallen or damaged trees themselves.
Goedtel’s devastated yard is an example of the urgent cleanup still under way in Queens and Brooklyn following the violent storm that ripped through the city a week ago.
Goedtel is remaining optimistic. She said the fire department quickly removed fallen trees directly blocking the entrance to Goedtel’s house last week. Con Ed restored her power within 24 hours and the damage to her roof is being repaired.
“They’re doing a great job getting the phones back,” said Goedtel of Verizon.
City, volunteer, and contract workers are working around the clock on cleanup. Though not a tornado as initially thought, the storm has been classified as a macroburst, a straight-line wind that can hit with the force of a tornado.
The impact of the macroburst far surpassed that of the notoriously destructive Hurricane Gloria 25 years ago, said Vicki Karp, director of Public Affairs for the Department of Parks and Recreation.
“We’re one-third through [cleaning up], we’re way ahead of schedule,” reported Karp at a press conference on Thursday.
Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe encouraged citizens to be patient as the city continues to clean up the extensive damage.
City trucks and contractors line the streets from Forest Hills to Middle Village continuing to remove fallen trees and limbs. The debris is being processed into wood chips to be sold or recycled.
Many old-growth trees were lost in the incident. Although Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe acknowledged this as an irreparable loss, he remained grateful for Mayor Bloomberg’s Million Trees NYC program, which provides a generous budget for planting new trees.
Reparation of damages is expected to cost around $10 million for the Parks Department alone.
Though progress is being made, officials are hesitant to give an estimate on how long cleanup will take.
“Nobody wants to say it’ll take two, or it’ll take four weeks, because what if it takes five or six?” said Karp.
Coordination with Con Edison is one obstacle to efficient cleanup. Parks workers arrive at a site to clear fallen trees, but are unable to proceed because they are unqualified to fix problems with fallen power lines, explained Karp.
Con Edison is advising people to treat all wires as if they are live and not attempt to touch or move them. The Parks Department is also advising homeowners not to attempt taking care of fallen or damaged trees themselves.
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