Remnants of the Concord Green Apartments in Newburgh are piled in a parking lot Wednesday. The structure had to be torn down after the Nov. 6 tornado. (These are right next door to my church)
Whirlwind cleanup Massive volunteer effort planned to haul off remaining tornado debris
By MARK WILSON Courier & Press staff writer 464-7417 or mwilson@evansville.net
March 23, 2006
The deadly Nov. 6 tornado left behind more than shattered homes and lives when it devastated parts of Henderson, Ky., Vanderburgh and Warrick counties.
Five months later, debris and litter still clutter Warrick County's yards, fields and roadways. Despite a cleanup effort that has seen truckload after truckload of debris hauled away, the litter seemingly has continued to accumulate.
Tired of being reminded about that destruction and eager to make a clean start, a group of volunteers is organizing a massive volunteer cleanup for April 1. The effort has the support of county officials, and numerous area businesses have offered assistance. Organizers are hoping nearly 1,000 volunteers will turn out for the campaign - fittingly named the TLC (Tornado and Litter Cleanup) Project.
The cleanup will stretch from Evansville's East Side to Tennyson, Ind., nearly 25 miles, said Warrick County Sheriff Marvin Heilman.
"Good idea!" said Jim Baugh of 4188 Hilldale Drive. "I do hope they get it cleaned up."
The wooded swath of land behind his house was
once a serene buffer between the traffic on Indiana 66 and his neighborhood, wedged between Lenn Road, Lincoln Avenue and the highway north of Newburgh.
Construction workers are swarming over neighbors' homes. But when Baugh stands in his backyard, there isn't any progress visible. The woods are a tangled mess of broken trees and vines, building materials and garbage. Viewed from the highway, the woods and roadside look like a garbage dump.
A ditch running parallel with the woods is dammed in so many places now that Baugh said he and his son gave up trying to do something about it by themselves. He has been waiting for warm weather to have another go at it. In the meantime, heavy rains that deluged the Tri-State earlier this month caused the ditch to overflow and flood yards.
"Once about every four to six weeks a group from the neighborhood gets together at Logan's (Roadhouse restaurant) to see how everybody is doing on their homes. We had talked about doing some kind of cleanup," he said.
Ben Rasche of 7933 Melody Lane liked the idea of a countywide cleanup too. "I think it's great. When I drive down Bell Road it looks bad," he said.
The effort is being organized by Crossroads Christian Church in cooperation with local churches and volunteer groups. "I can't tell you how impressed I am with all of the organizations and everybody I have talked to who want to help," said Chan Reese, a Crossroads member who initiated the campaign.
"Everybody has noticed the litter. We can write about it, complain about it and talk about it, but in the long run you just have to pick it up."
Heilman has pledged that Warrick deputies will provide extra traffic enforcement for the day to help keep safe the volunteers working along the roads. He is hoping the cleanup will restore some of the county's natural beauty as spring comes into full bloom.
"We need a huge outpouring of work and loving our neighbors to get this done," he said. "It has to be done. Frankly, everybody is tired of seeing it but nobody really has clear plan for getting rid of it."
Reese estimates the effort will require 500 volunteers in the Newburgh area, 200 in Boonville and 100 for Degonia Springs and Tennyson.
There will be three staging areas:
· Crossroads Christian Church, at Outer Lincoln Avenue and Epworth Road
· Boonville Junior High School, 555 N. Yankeetown Road
· Baker's Chapel, 3495 E. Indiana 62 (Basically the parking lot as the church is gone)
The coordinators are Reese, Boonville police Lt. Mark Hadley and Deputy Jack Donahoo for Tennyson.
Because of safety concerns, organizers ask that volunteers be at least 14 years old. Volunteers may check in at any of the sites between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the day of the cleanup. They will need to provide transportation to their assigned area.
Volunteers with trucks will be assigned to each area to take the debris to various designated drop sites. County garbage containers and state dump trucks will be made available to remove the debris. In addition, the Indiana Department of Transportation will pick up litter collected in garbage bags and left along the side of state roads. Safety vests will be provided where necessary, but volunteers are asked to wear brightly colored shirts, such as neon orange or yellow or lime green. In addition, volunteers are asked to wear appropriate boots or shoes and bring heavy duty trash bags, rakes, shovels, brooms, dustpans and chain saws.
"We are tired. We need some help so that we will no longer have the constant reminder of the killer tornado that went through this area," said Hadley, whose niece, Melinda Hadley, was killed and her father injured when the tornado smashed their house near Boonville.
