Connecticut and Massachusetts were among the hardest hit states impacted by the Halloween Snowstorm that took place on October 29th and 30th, 2011. Parts of these states received as much as 27 inches of snowfall during those two days. Crowns and branches from millions of trees came crashing down due to the weight of the wet snow, along with the weight of the foliage, which had not yet dislodged from the branches due to the time of year. The combination of the weight of the snow and the weight of the leaves proved to be too much for many of the trees throughout the impacted areas in MA and CT.
AshBrittt was tasked to work in 20 towns and cities in Massachusetts as well as Springfield College located in the City Springfield, MA. This service was made available due to the proactive measure taken by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by awarding AshBritt a contract through the Dept of Environmental Protection as well as the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency which was made available for the impacted communities to utilize. The list of impacted communities in MA was extensive including:
The City of Springfield
Springfield College
The City of West Springfield
The Town of Agawam
The City of Chicopee
The Town of Holland
The Town of Holyoke
The Town of Lancaster
The Town of Longmeadow
The Town of Ludlow
The Town of Lunenburg
The Town of Monson
The Town of Northborough
The Town of Palmer
The Town of Southwick
The Town of Sturbridge
The Town of Townsend
The Town of Wales
The Town of Ware
The Town of Warren
The Town of Wilbraham
Additionally,16 towns & cities, 1 school district and the Dept of Transportation in Connecticut called upon AshBritt by way of utilizing our statewide contract through the Dept. of Emergency Management and Homeland Security with instructions that included clearing of downed trees in roadways as well as clearing of downed, storm generated debris in the rights of way. The following locales utilized the pre-positioned contract AshBritt holds with the State of CT:
The Town of Berlin
The Town of Bristol
The CT Dept. of Transportation
The Town of Danbury
The Town of East Granby
The Town of Ellington
The Town of Enfield
The City of Hartford
The City of Manchester
The Town of New Milford
The Town of Newington
The Town of Plymouth
The City of South Windsor
The Town of Suffield
The Town of Vernon
The City of West Hartford
The Town of Windsor Locks
The Windsor Locks School District
All in all more than 3.5 million cubic yards of vegetative debris was collected by AshBritt. This debris was reduced to mulch and delivered to multiple beneficial reuse facilities throughout New England so that less than 1% of the vegetative debris was disposed of by way of landfills. AshBritt also removed hazardous hanging limbs from more than 200,000 trees in both states and cut down over 15,000 hazardous trees that were left leaning or uprooted after the storm.
Following Hurricane Katrina in August 2009, as the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Advanced Contracting Initiative (ACI) contractor for U.S. Region 3, AshBritt was the Initial Response contractor for both Louisiana and Mississippi. Moreover, AshBritt was ultimately tasked by the USACE as the Prime Contractor for the entire debris mission in the State of Mississippi. Owing to the severity of the damage, this mission proved to be the largest debris cleanup and recovery by a single company in U.S. history. All of us at AshBritt are extremely proud of this monumental accomplishment.
Following are some of the major recovery highlights. AshBritt initially provided emergency lodging and hygiene facilities for over 300 government personnel in Metairie, LA. Furthermore, we deployed and managed a commissary that served more than 10,000 meals. We also provided over 50,000 gallons of emergency diesel fuel for initial operations. In Louisiana, we initiated and conducted debris removal operations in 11 jurisdictions, in which we manned and operated 26 debris management sites. Before transferring all of our resources to the Mississippi mission, we collected and hauled over 1 million cubic yards of debris in just less than five weeks. We also removed 19 tons of putrefied food from commercial cold storage facilities.
In Mississippi, AshBritt conducted debris removal, hazardous tree mitigation and demolition servicer in 17 separate jurisdictions, covering over 8,400 square miles and over 175 miles inland. All in all, AshBritt collected, hauled and processed approximately 21 million cubic yards of debris and wreckage. We staffed, managed and operated 49 debris management sites. More specifically, we hauled over 700,000 loads of debris, using approximately 12,400 certified operational vehicles. We employed and managed over 1,230 subcontractors, of which over 80 percent were locally sources and retained. We also established five offices and employed over 500 local personnel, many of whom had been adversely affected by the storm. What’s more, AshBritt maintained an impeccable safety record, with minimal incidents and lost-time injuries over the course of the recovery.
Following Hurricane Dolly's landfall in 2008 in Southeast Texas, AshBritt was selected as the Prime contactor to assist in the recovery of Hidalgo County, Texas. AshBritt served the unincorporated county and most of the municipalities within the county. Because of the severe flooding attributed to the storm, AshBritt supplied an array of emergency pumps and vacuum trucks to mitigate the flood waters. Overall, we relocated and rechanneled over 350 million gallons of water. We also collected, removed, managed, and lawfully disposed of over 650,000 cubic yards of debris. In the course of the recovery, we collected approximately 14,500 loads of debris using 94 hauling vehicles.
Following Hurricane Ike's landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast in 2008, AshBritt responded as the Prime pre-event disaster contractor for Orange County, Texas. For this mission, AshBritt Supplied 8 emergency power generators, emergency meals, lodging & hygiene and other response services, which included: MREs, water, Gatorade, cots/sleeper units, temp housing, shower units, temp offices, refrigerators, dry containers, and grocery deliveries. We also provided building remediation and restoration services for 17 county government buildings, including water and debris extraction, decontamination and disinfecting, drying-in, climate control, and document recovery. Furthermore, we collected, removed, managed, and lawfully disposed of over 620,000 cubic yards of debris.
Following Hurricane Ivan's landfall in the Florida Panhandle in 2004, AshBritt was selected to assist in the debris recovery efforts for Escambia County, Florida. AshBritt collected and processed approximately 2,350,000 cubic yards of disaster debris, while disposing of over 1,053,000 cubic yards of reduced vegetative waste and C&D. AshBritt managed 4 debris management sites and 3 citizen drop-off sites. Debris was reduced by grinding, compaction and burning. Overall, 95,631 loads where handled for both debris collection and disposal, utilizing over 700 collection trucks and 350 disposal trucks. Debris was disposed of at 16 final disposal sites. A significant portion of reduced vegetative debris was diverted for beneficial use.
Following Hurricane Charley's landfall in Southwest Florida in 2004, AshBritt was selected to assist in the debris recovery efforts for Charlotte County, Florida. AshBritt collected and processed approximately 1,900,000 cubic yards of disaster debris, while disposing of over 300,000 cubic yards of reduced vegetative waste and C&D. AshBritt managed 4 TDSR sites. Debris was reduced by grinding, compaction and burning. Overall, 77,623 loads where handled for both debris collection and disposal, utilizing over 600 collection trucks and 200 disposal trucks. Debris was disposed of at 3 final disposal sites. Portions of reduced vegetative debris were diverted for beneficial agricultural use and fuel source. Additionally, AshBritt provided emergency dry-in services and roof tarping support for several County properties.
Following Hurricane Wilma's landfall in the southwest of Florida, AshBritt responded ast the Prime pre-event contractor for Collier County, Florida. AshBritt collected and processed over 934,000 cubic yards of disaster debris, while disposing of 344,000 cubic yards of reduced vegetative waste and C&D. AshBritt established and oversaw six debris management sites. Debris was reduced by grinding and compaction. Overall, over 34,000 loads where handled for both debris collection and disposal, utilizing 614 collection trucks and 216 disposal trucks. Debris was disposed of at 11 final disposal sites, many of which were for beneficial use application of reduced vegetative debris (agricultural and power cogeneration). Additionally, AshBritt supplied emergency power, emergency containment for petroleum releases, and vacuum truck service to the county.