GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) – It’s been a month since Hurricane Helene hit the upstate and local governments are still in recovery mode. On Monday night, Greenville City Manager presented the council with an update on progress and next steps.

“We will not stop this effort until all of the vegetative debris from the storm is cleared,” Councilwoman Dorothy Dowe said.

City Manager Shannon Lavrin says more than 260,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris have been collected so far. They estimate that all the debris would be the length of 15 football fields, stacked 10 feet high.

The city expects trash pickup to continue through at least Thanksgiving. At the landfill, they turn the scraps into mulch that can later be used in city parks.

They are also making improvements for the next storm. City leaders will meet with each department to discuss what went well with their response and what didn’t

and aim to prevent another lasting power outage by undergrounding more utilities.

“Which corridors should we focus on for the underground? It is incredibly expensive to the underground. We’re going to be looking for a lot of state and federal partnerships on that,” Dowe said.

They also hope to restore some of the thousands of lost trees by creating a small-scale replanting plan.

“Obviously that’s one of the things that’s really affected our community — a significant loss of trees,” Lavrin explained.

The city would also like to hear feedback on its communication and alert system. To take them survey, click here.

Copyright 2024 WHNS. All rights reserved.