SAN ANTONIO — Some San Antonians are still cleaning up after storms thrashed and trashed parts of the city last Thursday, but the widespread damage has an upside for residents.
About 1,500 tons of debris – enough to cover two football fields – have been collected by the city, and now crews are grinding down all of it...and turning it into fresh mulch that San Antonians can get for free.
"We're excited to give back to the community. We call it giving back to nature," said David McCary, director of solid waste management for the city. "We'll be giving out free mulch to the public in about a week. If they want to come now, they're welcome to come; we have standard mulch that we give away."
The Woodlawn neighborhood in west San Antonio was among those hardest-hit by last week's storm. Crews made four sweeps in that area.
McCary said the last time they collected this much debris was during a 2017 storm. The most was after Hurricane Harvey, when the city picked up an amount of debris in Kingwood equal to 14 football fields.
City officials said residents in the Woodlawn area qualified for the free pickup service. Other residents outside of that area are considered out of cycle collections, which comes with a small fee. Solid Waste Management created a hotline for residents in the Woodlawn area to get their debris picked up. The number is (210)207-6428.