ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Clean up continues after recent severe storms in the QC area left widespread damage. EF-1 tornadoes and strong winds ripped through the region, including Rock Island, where the city is offering to help.
From Monday, April 10th, to April 21st, Rock Island will clean up all debris placed by the curb, for free. Debris does not need to be stacked or bundled, but should be organized as best as possible.
With the weather being so nice, residents were out on Easter Sunday getting their debris ready for pickup.
"It's a beautiful day, and there was a lot of limbs and a lot of things to be picked up from the tornado," Rock Island resident Betty Knox said.
She lives next door to Hodge Park, one of the hardest hit areas in Rock Island. Knox wasn't the only one cleaning up though.
"We're moving our massive piles to the curb so they can get picked up," Rock Island resident Karen Lyon said. "Most of our damage was from this tree. The largest branches fell actually in between the two houses. My husband said he could hear it scraping down the side of the house."
Lyon and her husband have a 60-year-old tree in their front yard that was broken into pieces. They also had a tree branch create a bulge in their garage wall.
"I'm very grateful," Lyon said. "It really would have taken a lot of truckloads on our own to try and take out this much debris. It's really nice that they (the city) decided to do that. I was hoping that they would since it was so much."
The city is urging caution with unsolicited tree services and contractors, saying its best practice not to pay until the work is completed.