Storms come off the Cumberland Plateau hard. The Easter 2020 tornado tore through East Brainerd and Ooltewah and every spring brings a night of straight-line wind somewhere in Hamilton County. The order of operations is the same every time.
First hour
- Photograph everything before it moves.
- Downed lines: utility first.
- Tree on the house: tree crew first.
What Chattanooga picks up
The city's brush collection takes vegetation cut to length and stacked at the curb on its route, and after a declared storm the city and county run extra debris pickups that can take weeks to reach the mountain streets. Fences, roofing, shed pieces and mixed piles are excluded.
Crew or dumpster
A crew cuts, loads and hauls what the pickup will not take. For a whole yard plus a damaged deck or roof, a 15 or 20-yard dumpster on the driveway for the week is cheaper than three truck loads; we do both and say which fits.
Questions on this
Will the city haul my fence panels after a storm?
Usually not; brush pickups take vegetation. Fence and roofing are a crew or dumpster job.