What’s happening with all the storm debris in Houston?

HOUSTON — Huge piles of debris could be filling up around your neighborhood and, according to the City of Houston, there’s a reason why.

Trucks full of debris are constantly heading toward the processing site at the corner of Elysian Street and Hamblen Street. Mounds of tree branches will eventually become mounds of mulch.

Neighbors told KHOU 11 News the site was just popping up and continued to grow after the May 16 Derecho storm.

Many have asked what exactly is going on with all the debris and KHOU 11 News set out to find out.

We contacted the city on Wednesday and were told there was a huge volume of debris from last month’s storm. Legally, they can’t just collect them and throw them in the landfill.

First, it must be compressed. So the options are often to burn the debris to shrink it or to reduce it by turning it into mulch.

The City contracted with an external disaster response service, Ash Britt, to manage this process. On Wednesday we saw piles of trees and branches right next to mounds of mulch.

The city said it will recycle the debris by partnering with several agencies that use mulch and will work to distribute much of it.

Neighbors said debris was still being picked up on neighborhood streets. The City says the process could take two to three months.

After the storm, the city launched a debris collection tracking tool. It worked for about a day before disconnecting. It was about two weeks ago. KHOU 11 News is waiting for an update on when it will be back online.

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