Dover continues its cleanup efforts following last week’s tornado.
Cleanup crews were on the ground within an hour after the tornado touched down last Thursday according to Kay Sass- Dover’s Director of Emergency Management and Communications.
She says their work is ongoing, but adds the city is also counting on residents to handle some of the clean-up of their own spaces.
“We are letting residents know that if you are a city resident, we’re lifting the amount they can put out for yard waste. So this way we can get the debris off the property and out of the city. So for the next two weeks they can put any amount of yard waste that they have.” she said.
Sass says City Hall was also impacted by the storm. She notes they were without phone systems or internet connection for “most of the weekend” due to fallen trees behind the building.
"We were without internet and phones through most of the weekend. What we did do was, we transferred the phones and put a notice out to call the non-emergency line at the police department and an email address there. So, we were still able to get to the needs of those people that stuff had to be handled for ." she said.
She says city staff were also able to complete some work by accessing the local data offline.
Sass says the city’s current priority is documenting damages, especially areas condemned like the Superlodge and certain units of Days Inn on Route 13. That process involves photographing all affected areas and filing them, which can be time consuming.
Sass says the city has also received calls from individuals staying at the hotels that were displaced, and notes they are working with the United Way, Delaware 211, DEMA, DHSS, and others to find additional resources for those in need.
Sass expects cleanup efforts will continue for at least another week, but adds it could take longer depending on weather conditions and severity of damage in some spots.
