Williamson County's estimated ice storm damage reaches $11 million
The estimated damage in Williamson County from the ice storm that hit this month has reached an estimated $11 million, an official said Tuesday.
The county may not get any federal relief money if the state doesn't meet its damage threshold, said Michael Shue, the county's emergency management director on Tuesday.
"As long as the state meets the $51.7 million threshold we will see (federal) reimbursement, but if we don't the state will figure out another way to help us cover these costs," Shue said at the county commissioners meeting on Tuesday.
Officials with the Texas Department of Emergency Management did not immediately respond to a request for information about the amount of damage statewide. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a state disaster declaration for seven counties impacted by the severe weather, including Williamson and Travis.
Taylor, Leander and Liberty Hill were all hard hit by the storm, but there is tree damage all over Williamson County, officials said.
"I have not seen a tree that has not snapped in some form or fashion," said Commissioner Russ Boles. "This is one of the worst disasters to hit our county."
The county's $11 million in damage comes from the costs for the winter storm response for all governmental entities, including cities, said Connie Odom, a county spokeswoman. The entities also include school districts, emergency service districts and utilities.
The damage includes overtime for staff and other expenses. Odom said "a good portion" of the damage includes clearing roads and removing downed limbs.
"The county still has significant amounts of limbs on the sides of county roads that need to be removed and has not been included in that $11 million," Odom said. She said the county doesn't have an estimate yet of how much that will cost.
The county's damage estimate also may increase because some cities and school districts still haven't reported their estimates to the county, Shue said. County commissioners on Tuesday extended the disaster declaration for the county for another 30 days through March 9 to give property owners, businesses and governmental entities more time to report damage.
Commissioners also approved a site in Florence for cities to take tree limbs to burn. The county is putting a burn box at the site that allows wood to burn without causing any smoke, said Boles. The burn box would be about the size of the tractor bed of an 18-wheel truck and would burn limbs at such a high temperature and so quickly that the smoke would be minimal, he said.
"The amount of limbs we have is catastrophic," said Boles. "It would take years to mulch them."
The burn box is only available for cities and other governmental entities to use. Individuals can haul their limbs to the Williamson County landfill, which is charging a reduced rate of $10 per pickup load until Sunday, officials said. The landfill is at 600 Landfill Road in Hutto.
Taylor Mayor Brandt Rydell on Tuesday said there was not a residential block in the town that didn't have tree damage.
"We pride ourselves in Taylor of having a wonderful inventory of old trees around town and this ice storm was just devastating to the canopy," he said. "We estimate we have 100,000 cubic yards of downed limbs, branches and trees."
The city has hired a third-party contractor to haul away the debris, he said.
Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan said the ice storm caused tree damage in every single neighborhood in the city. "When a storm puts half an inch of ice on tree limbs, not many trees will survive that weight."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Williamson Co. damage from February's ice storm reaches $11 million
