By ERICA ESTEP
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Thursday night's severe storm downed trees and power lines in South Knoxville's Island Home community. Late Friday, half the neighborhood remained without power.
Friday was cleanup time for many Island Home residents, something they're used to after severe storms. Ironically, the man in charge of city brush cleanup also lives in this historic neighborhood. David Brace, Knoxville Public Works Director said he was home with his wife and toddler when he storm hit.
"It was pretty scary, but fortunately there wasn't any major damage in the neighborhood, just a couple of trees that went down," said Brace. The large, mature trees are part of what makes Island Home charming, but can also prove dangerous.
Wesley Burgin, co-owner of A1 Wilson Tree Service, said his crew has been busy. 6 News found them working in the 2100 block of Island Home Boulevard.
"This tree actually split and fell on the house," Burgin explained. "So, we actually lifted it back up off the house, and we're working on cutting it off the house."
Fortunately most of the downed trees in the neighborhood missed historic homes, but did take down a couple power lines. A power outage is a big concern for Candy Archer, who cares for her mother.
"I'm really worried," said Archer. "I've heard the news that it may be a multi-day event, and my mother is very elderly, and she has COPD."
Just across the street, Archer's neighbors had power.
"Yes, it is very ironic to have half of the street with power, and the other half not. But, it seems like that's how it happens," she said.
Next-door neighbor Steve Monday was trying to salvage food from his fridge.
"Right now our biggest concern is that we've got to get groceries saved or it could be a very expensive event for us," he said.
But, saving money wasn't the only thing on Monday's mind, and certainly not closest to his heart. He was concerned about his next-door neighbor, too.
"She's in her eighties and we're going to have to do something with her," he said through tears, "because somebody told one of our neighbors that this could be a multi-day event, and she can't handle this heat."
Knoxville Public Works Director, David Brace told 6 News that his crews were up past two Friday morning, getting trees out of the roadways. They concentrated on clearing the way for emergency crews.
"Obviously there's a lot of debris still down both in public parks, and next to roads," Brace said. "We didn't actually pick up the debris, we just got the road clear to try to get access for fire, and police and ambulances. Then we'll spend the next week or so getting debris cleaned up throughout the city."
Friday was cleanup time for many Island Home residents.
Fortunately, most of the downed trees in the neighborhood missed historic homes.
