DANVILLE — Severe weather remains a major topic, with cleanup continuing throughout Vermilion County.
“I know we have a lot of damage, but we can replace trees, we can replace houses and vehicles and garages, but we cannot replace people,” Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said during Tuesday’s Danville City Council meeting.
Logan Cronk brought forward an “emergency” need with the storm damage to buildings on North Vermilion Street.
“After the demolition of the downtown buildings on Vermilion (Chart Records and DC Fitness) the building in between, the south wall was exposed during all these storms,” Cronk said. “We had no idea how it was going to react while it wasn’t sealed. The structure, I’ve been notified by the owner is letting in a lot of water. Unfortunately, we will not have the ability to hold off and go out for bid. We need to get this sealed up immediately before real damage is caused here.”
Cronk said he intends to get several proposals and does have an architect giving city officials advice.
“We do not know how much it’s going to cost yet, so we’ll get some proposals and hopefully get this weatherized as quick as possible,” Cronk said.
Danville’s Lincoln Park was hit especially hard by the June 11 severe storms.
The city has closed the park for cleanup.
“Please, please, for your own safety and the love of all that is good, do not go into Lincoln Park,” Williams said. “The last thing that we need is y’all to be out there thinking that you’re helping, and… somebody gets hurt, or worse.”
Susan Willamam drove around the Lincoln Park area taking several photos of trees uprooted, some fell on houses, and there was debris covering the signage to the park.
“I didn’t realize about the house on the corner,” Willaman said. “That rattled me to my soul… and then boom, I mean, that tree is huge. I pulled up next to it, and I just gasped in my little Beetle Bug.”
David Ruwe, Public Works Director, said the damage estimates for Lincoln Park will be substantial.
“I’d say the damage is very similar to the last time we got coverage on it. I think they covered about $500,000 worth that we received back from them,” Ruwe said.
The contractor they hired for their tree removal project is also an arborist.
However, he says he is not “100% sure if there will be any assistance coming at all.”
“One of the challenges that we face, though, is now that we have identified the number of dangerous or dead trees that we have,” Williams said. “Some of what you see happening right now is some of these dead trees or bad trees that we own have fallen into the streets or onto people’s property.’’
Alderman Tricia Teague asked about what happens if a state of emergency is declared, bringing up the 2023 derecho.
“It [FEMA funding] conceivably could open doors for citizens to take advantage of opportunities to get FEMA assistance outside of what the city receives,” Teague said. “The city is receiving assistance for city expenses, but the city is not going to help any of those residents along Chandler, Grant or Harmon, who also had significant property damage because they were in that same line that Lincoln Park was in.”
Williams says that in order to receive FEMA funds, the local director has to declare an emergency.
Ruwe said last time it took months to find out if they were getting funding, and added he has requested bids from tree removal contractors.
“To basically get the park completely safe and open and back to what we would consider looking normal, other than we’re going to be short some trees, and so the lowest number on that is actually $100,000, so we’ve given that contractor… that contractor is set to begin on the cleanup of Lincoln Park, they’re estimating two to three weeks on that,” Ruwe said.
The Kickapoo State Park area was also hit hard by an EF-1 tornado on June 11. And they are still picking up the damage as the storms roll right back in.
“We have over 300 canoes and kayaks,” Julie Monahan, co-owner of Kickapoo Adventures, said. “About 70–75% of those were completely demolished … but we already have them rebuilt.”
On Tuesday, there were reports of hail — pea and dime-sized — in Belgium, Catlin, Georgetown, Oakwood and Westville.
Williams shared what citizens can do as more storm were forecasted for Wednesday.
“The best thing that you all can do for us and for the city as a whole is to continue to help your neighbors,’’ he said. “If you have an older neighbor, a disabled neighbor, please continue to look out for them… to make sure that they are safe.”
Rheanna Pierce also mentioned that residents can get alerts for storm cleanup through text or email by signing up on the city’s website https://www.cityofdanville.org/.