Clean up in West Lafayette to begin in earnest tomorrow
WEST LAFAYETTE – Mayor Stephen Bordenkircher met with Coshocton County Emergency Management Agency director Rob McMasters, Troy Cole, deputy director, Coshocton EMA; West Lafayette Fire Chief Glenn Hill, Police Chief Stephen Klopfenstein, and others in the village to discuss the next step in the flood clean-up process.
A clean-up effort will begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Residents in the flood zone need to have their debris to the curb for pick-up. If you are physically unable to move trash to the curb, contact the village administration office and they will send over volunteers.
The village has shut off all utilities to the known homes in the village limits that have been damaged. Approximately 20 to 25 more homes with flood damage was detected today. There has also been an increase to the number of homes on SR 751 and CR 9 that have seen damage due to flooding since yesterday.
The community is coming together and willing to lend a helping hand. Coshocton City is sending dump trucks and crews to help with the clean-up process tomorrow. Chili Crossroads Bible Church has offered to send volunteers to help with the clean-up as well. An Amish and Mennonite Rapid Response Team out of Berlin hopes to have at least 20 volunteers in the village to help, and Team Rubicon, a privately-owned disaster respond team consisting mostly of military veterans, will also be on hand.
“We need as many people here to get this clean-up done as soon as possible,” said McMasters.
Bordenkircher said that he is impressed with the people in the community who have offered help.
“If nothing else has impressed me about this, it’s the community stepping forward and helping out,” said Bordenkircher.
Tim Callahan, disaster program manager with the Southeast Ohio American Red Cross, was also in attendance and said they have been giving out buckets filled with mops, handles, brushes, squeegees, masks, gloves, and bleach. He said that only about 10 to 12 were given out today, but he plans to hand out more tomorrow.
At 9 a.m. tomorrow, a survey team will be going door-to-door to assess damages. The mayor also said that there was a boot drive scheduled for this Saturday which has now been canceled.
“I’m blessed to live in this county,” said McMasters. “Up until this happened, we never had to open a shelter. If you needed a place to stay, there was always family and friends. We’re very resilient. We take care of our own and what that shows is how strong our community is.”
The next meeting will be 8 a.m. tomorrow morning in the administration building.
Category: Government
