Communities start discussing sandbag cleanup

Communities in and around Boone County are starting to discuss how they will clean up after the floodwaters recede.

Brandon Vair lives in Rocheport and owns Meriwether Cafe and Bike Shop. He volunteered when residents were putting down sandbags. Vair said it will be two weeks to a month before residents in Rocheport even consider taking them down.

He said city leaders in Rocheport have started to discuss what will happen when the time to take the sandbag wall down arrives. One question communities are facing is what to do with the hundreds of bags.

Tom Hurley, director of Boone County Emergency Management, said there are several uses for sandbags after a flooding event.

“According to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the bags can be used for different trail maintenance or that kind of thing, surfaces where sand is typically used. Road cover in winter, that kind of thing as well.” Hurley said.

He said towns can also store the bags for later use.

“They can remain bagged on site and stored depending on local ordinances as well,” he said.

Hurley said people should use caution when cleaning up sandbags if they touched floodwaters because it is difficult to tell what was in the water.

“We can’t be confident that some kind of chemical has not come in contact that would pose a hazard to individuals,” he said.

“Especially after a flooding event the river’s not the cleanest body of water in our community,” he said.

Hurley said other objects such as loose metals and other debris can be in the water.

“You don’t want the bags that have been impacted directly by water to be used for surfaces where people come in contact with them. Especially barefoot or something like that,” he said.

Hurley said it typically takes less manpower to remove sandbags than it does to fill sandbags and create a wall.

“You can remove them with a front end loader. Just kind of stack them in the front end loader and dump them into a dump truck and move on pretty quickly,” he said.

Vair said he is concerned Rocheport will have a difficult time getting people to volunteer their time to clean up the sandbags because there is no imminent threat to the town.

Hurley said when the time finally comes for volunteers to do the work they should take the proper precautions.

“Including gloves, solid shoes, work boots. That kind of thing. Jeans are always appropriate for coming in contact with the water. Ensure that you’re up to date with your tetanus shots and that kind of thing as well,” Hurley said.

Vair said despite the flooding in Rocheport, after laying sandbags, community members and business owners went back to business as usual, and when it comes time to clean up they will help with the efforts again.