Little Rock city officials say last month’s tornado left roughly 3,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said he and city officials will hold bi-weekly briefings to update residents on cleanup efforts. Speaking at City Hall on Friday, Little Rock Emergency Management Administrator Matt Burks said the total price tag of the storm damage is still unclear.
“All told, we’ve currently identified 89 structures, mostly residential, completely destroyed; 496 having received major damage, 636 with minor damage, 203 that were affected in some way by the storm, and 76 unaffected,” Burks said.
Little Rock Public Works Director Jon Honeywell said anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 cubic yards of debris has already been dropped off at the city’s temporary collection site at Reservoir Park. He said the city will begin curbside debris collection starting next week.
“It’s going to take roughly 90 days at a minimum to complete the debris collection. That will include multiple passes across the city,” Honeywell said. “Most of this material, the vegetative material, will be ground and taken to our mulching and composting site at our landfill facility where it will later be reused and recycled in various ways.”
Scott says the city’s emergency relief fund, dubbed Little Rock Cares, has garnered roughly $341,000 in donations over the past two weeks. He urged residents seeking assistance to do so at the West Central Community Center at the corner of Colonel Glenn Road and John Barrow Road, which has been designated as a Disaster Recovery Center by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
