Residents facing downed trees and property damage from the weekend storms across Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent can find assistance from municipal services.
Many municipalities are making it easier for locals to dispose of yard waste and items damaged by flooding.
The severe storms on Friday brought winds exceeding 110 kilometres per hour in parts of Essex County.
Then, on Sunday, some areas in Windsor received about 100 millimetres of rain, according to the Essex Region Conservation Authority.
The Essex Power Corporation reports that its crews will be busy over the next one to two weeks fixing damaged poles and clearing tree branches and debris after restoring power to around 9,000 customers during the weekend, as shared by a spokesperson with CBC via email.
Enwin also worked on clean-up early Tuesday after getting power back for 11,000 customers over the weekend, said Jim Brown, chief operating officer of the utility’s hydro division.
WATCH | What to know about the special storm trash pickup in Windsor-Essex:
What to know about special storm trash pickup in Windsor-Essex
This past weekend’s storms caused fallen tree limbs and flooding across Windsor-Essex. Now that residents and city crews are cleaning up, here’s how you can properly dispose of all that debris. CBC Windsor’s Emma Loop breaks it down.
For individual homeowners sorting through the aftermath, the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority is letting residents drop off yard waste at its depots using double-axle trailers free of charge, according to information on their website.
The “grace period” will run until the end of day on Aug. 1 or until further notice.
Restrictions regarding branch and tree trunk sizes still apply, noted the authority.
Commercial customers will continue to incur charges during this time.
Here’s what different municipalities are offering their residents.
City of Windsor
The city along with Miller Waste is organizing a special tree waste collection for Windsor residents over the upcoming two weeks starting Wednesday, as stated in a news release from the city. The collection will take place in Zones B this week and Zones A next week.
“The additional storm related tree waste pickup will occur on each zone’s typical yard waste collection day of the week,” a spokesperson told CBC via email.
The city requests that residents:
Limit branch lengths to 122 centimetres. Limit branch thicknesses to no more than 10 centimetres. Limit branch weights to 20 kilograms. Tie tree branches together if possible.
If storm-related tree waste doesn’t meet these requirements, residents can drop it off at the city’s yard waste depot located at 3560 North Service Rd. East without any fee, as stated by the city.
Homeowners dealing with flood-damaged items should contact their insurance companies first before filling out a “Basement Flooding” service request through either the Windsor 311 app or online portal before end-of-day Friday as indicated by city officials.
The City of Windsor plans to provide special waste collection services for these items; however residents must ensure flood-damaged materials are set out at curbside prior to submitting their service requests. Items like paint and chemicals shouldn’t be included either. p >
The city encourages homeowners who notice trees down on municipal property to log a “Tree Damage Due to Storm” service request using the Windsor 311 app or online portal. p >
