Storm damage cleanup continues in Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Storm clean-up continues in Fayetteville after bands of heavy rain and wind swept through the area Friday night.
Kurin Keys had just let his employees go for the evening when he heard the storm approaching his t-shirt printing business at the corner of Raeford and Robeson.
At first, the heavy rain was vertical
"Then you hear this small 'choo-choo' train type (noise) and I was like 'wait a minute,'" said Keys. "Third grade comes back to mind. Let's get in the hallway. No glass. It's going down."
Keys said he could see the trees in the Rite-Aid parking lot begin to uproot, as debris flew over his building.
"I watched that tree over there do the 'Michael Jackson, Annie are you okay?' lean," he said. "The back porch played leap frog with my building."
"That's the back porch," Keys continued, pointing to a pile of debris on the curb.
The printing shops sign also ripped to pieces, smashing his car window.
In the neighborhood a block away, a massive tree uprooted sparking a fire behind a ground-level apartment, where residents hid for safety in the bathtub.
"You could tell it was coming, and I told a friend of mine 'It's going to hit us,'" said Vaughn Budrau.
"This didn't get on the house," he continued, patting the tree branch. "It could've killed us."
Clean-up continues
The most visible damage in the city was along East Raeford Road, Haymount, and Village Drive.
On Monday, independent crews and business employees continued to pick up heavy tree limbs strewn across parking lots and fencing. City crews had already cleared major roadways during overnight work Friday, although they continued to remove cut up limbs on Monday.
A large tree fell atop one side of the Blush Bridal shop in Haymount, but an employee said it did minimal damage. The business was just awaiting word from an insurance adjuster.
Keys said his business will sub-contract their work until their building is repaired. To ensure employees still make money in the interim, they've been working clean-up.
The City of Fayetteville is asking residents to call (910) 433-1FAY (1329) or use the City's "FayFixIt" app to report areas that still need debris pickup. That app can be downloaded in the iTunes store.
"To help ensure our crews can pick up the storm debris quickly and efficiently, I would ask residents to ensure storm debris is containerized as much as possible, and that any limbs placed curbside are five feet or shorter in length," said Jerry Dietzen, Director of Environmental Services for the City of Fayetteville. "As a reminder, place any yard waste close to the curb, but not in the roadway, to ensure our streets are kept clear for vehicular traffic and emergency vehicles."
Residents are responsible for removing yard waste from their yards and moving it to the curb for pick-up. If they contract with someone for storm debris removal, the contracted agency is responsible for debris removal. Commercial establishments, as per normal city procedure, will be responsible for contracting for the disposal of their own storm debris, city officials said.
