As storm cleanup continues across Allegheny County, Team Rubicon helps fill the gaps
Across Allegheny County, including in Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood, you can still find large remnants from last week's massive storm, but volunteers are on the ground, helping folks continue to pick up the pieces.
Ten days later, you can still hear the chainsaws as the clean-up carries on, following the April 29 storm.
Allegheny County and local municipalities are limited in the services they can provide, but there are other resources out there doing their part. This includes Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization that helps folks before, during, and after severe weather events. It just started serving people in the county, like Bill Robinson in Brookline.
"Snapped the trees about this big around," Robinson said as he showed the size with his arms.
The high winds knocked down huge trees in his backyard and onto his shed and outdoor garage, burying his motorcycle. He's one of more than 500 requests, the organization's incident commander, Peter Lindner, said they've received so far. They only started getting to work on Thursday, and intend to check everyone off their growing list.
"We're just starting to see them filter in, and we're assessing each and every one of them," Lindner said.
They'll send their site survey team out to assess the situation, and then will do tree and debris removal, along with roof tarping, and any other possible needs.
Those conducting the work are all volunteers, both from our area and across the country.
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato wanted to thank them before they went to their jobs Friday morning.
"It's really beautiful to see people coming together and helping each other, especially after hard times," Innamorato said to the volunteers.
She said their work means a lot, having seen the struggles families are going through as they try to recover.
"It's really been a team effort of saying, like, how do we make sure we're watching out for each other," Innamorato said.
If you live in Allegheny County and need help with cleaning up after the storm, call 2-1-1, which can help you get hold of Team Rubicon.
