The Town of Oxford plans to hold a public meeting Tuesday for residents with still grappling with overwhelming debris and damage on their properties after a severe storm two weeks ago.
There are some signs life is getting back to normal in Oxford. The schools and roads re-opened, and power is now fully restored, yet mounds of brush dotting roadsides and huge trees still untouched on some lawns are signs homeowners will need more than two weeks to get back on track.
Resident Matt Morgan said that some of the brush and tree debris on his property was pushed off the road by town workers doing their best to clear Riggs Street, a busy road. He’s grateful the road is now open, but not sure how to approach the extra mess.
The sheer number of trees down in his front and back yards is daunting.
“I worked a full day over there and you wouldn’t even really know,” Morgan said, surveying the damage to one corner of his lot.
His neighbor’s yard is also strewn with trees. The owner said a number of them toppled over from the land where Oxford Center School, a public school, sits.
Oxford’s First Selectman George Temple said the town’s public works department is prohibited from working on private property, but that he’s driven all of Oxford’s 100-plus miles of road since the storm and knows the damage his residents are grappling with is extensive.
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He’s put together a group of volunteers who are willing to take inventory of damage to resident’s properties and start coordinating efforts to provide help. For some elderly and disabled, manpower may be needed to cut and move trees. Others, like Morgan, aren’t sure what to do with the brush that was hastily removed from roadways.
It’s important that residents share the difficulties they are facing at the meeting, Temple said, so the town can get a clear picture of what is needed and where.
“We’re going to put our heads together tonight and attack it in a very rational and efficient manner,” he said.
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Oxford Town Hall.
