In wake of ice storm, county adds debris drop-off sites

The recent ice storm caused over $29 million in damages, felling trees, snapping power lines and sparking a declaration of disaster from county officials. On Tuesday, the county announced another debris drop-off point at Mansfield Dam, in addition to the site at Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant.

The new drop-off site is open daily from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. Only tree limbs, branches, shrubs and leaves will be accepted. “Household trash, appliances, metal, or other non-vegetative debris will not be accepted,” the county said in a statement.

The county also stated that high demand may drive longer wait times at the drop-off sites and included a link to the Travis County Winter Weather Recovery Page, with information about debris cleanup and privately run drop-off locations that “may charge a fee.”

Trees with cracked limbs are at increased risk of developing oak wilt, the county also warned.

“The ice storm and resulting damages from last week caused significant and substantial harm for so many in our community, and many continue to struggle in its aftermath,” wrote the office of Travis County Judge Andy Brown. “With global warming and increasing demands on our infrastructure, we must do more to strengthen our resiliency and ability to respond.”

Brown’s office stated the county made changes after Winter Storm Uri, but “so much more needs to be done” in emergency preparation.

To help cover repair costs from fallen branches and other damage, the county:

• Issued a county disaster declaration in order to access national and state funding
• Began talks with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to potentially obtain funding from the FEMA Public Assistance program
• Offered temporary tax exemptions for certain property owners affected by the storm

“In Texas, our state legislature has extremely limited the ability of local governments to provide robust services, including emergency response,” wrote Brown’s office. “We will need to bring additional resources to support rebuilding efforts, harden our infrastructure and strengthen our community’s resiliency.”

The federal threshold for assistance is $5.7 million and the state threshold is $52 million.

Editor’s Note: Andy Brown is on the board of the Capital of Texas Media Foundation, the parent nonprofit of the Austin Monitor

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