High And Low Tech Methods Being Used To Remove Debris
By: Drew Moore
Updated: June 22, 2011
Before any debris haulers were on the ground in Joplin, the Army Corps of Engineers was working hard to come up with the debris removal plan. The Army Corps of Engineers opened up their Field Office in Joplin days after the tornado with 3 staff members. Officials say there are now approximately 200 full time experts making sure clearing Joplin goes as smoothly as possible.
The clearing process begins at their Geographic Information Systems office. GIS specialist Mike Dulin says the quicker his group gets information in, the faster they can turn it around to the people in the field, making it faster for crews to get the debris out of the city, instead of piling up.
It's estimated the City of Joplin has greater than 500 debris removal trucks in the city. Officials say there is approximately 2 million yards of debris left to remove. Debris trucks are removing waste out of the destruction zone at a rate of 36,000 yards a day.
