NEW YORK (WPIX)—
New York City's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has been coordinating the clean up efforts from a series of storms and twisters that swept through Queens and Brooklyn 12 days ago. Today, PIX 11's Greg Mocker met with the commissioner and toured the command center after reporting on the work yesterday.OEM Commissioner Joseph F. Bruno says 1,100 people are working today. Over the weekend, additional outside contractors brought the number to 1,800. "The reason is the job is different now," Bruno explains. "When we are picking up limbs and trees on the street we are good with crews we have. But now as we go through the trees (to remove broken branches) we need more people." The Parks Department is assisting in assigning the crews.
Mocker wanted to know why workers called in this week were not around last week. Bruno said it was an unprecedented storm. He says the clean up is progressing and, at first, crews clear roads and then take care of debris and dangling limbs.
"And we realized more help is good," Bruno said.
The commissioner lives in Brooklyn and says the storm took out a tree in his yard at home. "This is a massive job," he says.
At 3 locations in the city, machines are chipping wood and debris trucked in by the Department of Sanitation. The Mulch will be used in city parks.
