Groveland Twp.- Barry Bass and a crew from Bedrock Express, Ltd., 1290 Ortonville Road, is in Texas this week, cleaning up the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.
The storm, which came ashore near Galveston, marks the fourth hurricane that the excavating firm has cleaned up after in the past four years, professionally contracted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Previously, Bedrock employees collected debris from Hurricane Charley (Aug. 13, 2004, southwest Florida), Hurricane Ivan (Sept. 16, 2004, Gulf Shores, Ala.), and Hurricane Wilma (Oct. 24, 2005, Cape Romano, Fla.).
Bass, president of Bedrock, and his employees were loading trucks with Dumpsters and cases of bottled water on Sept. 19, before making the trek to Texas with excavating equipment and 30 semi-trucks.
‘We’ll be down there for up to six months,? Bass said. ‘My employees (already in the Houston area) say it’s just wiped out.?
As a FEMA contractor, Bedrock is approved for 40 crews, about 200 people. Bass said 40-50 of the employees from Bedrock, who will be working in Texas anywhere from six weeks to six months, are local. The crews will work seven days a week, 14-16 hours per day clearing mostly wood and brush from the streets and curbs.
‘It’s mostly machine operators,? he said. ‘We’ll get up at 4 or 5 a.m., start work at daylight and haul debris to a waste site all day.?
Bedrock workers will set up tents to sleep, and erect an outside shower. They will eat food they bring with them for the first week or two. Employees will earn $1,500-$2,000 a week and will be monitored by FEMA workers to ensure they stay in their assigned zones.
Bedrock is paid federal money based on the amount of debris collected. Bass said that during Bedrock’s clean-up for Hurricane Wilma, the company collected half a million cubic yards of debris.