TYLER, Texas — Tyler residents are working to recover after storms continued to hit East Texas on Monday and East Texans have stepped up to help.
"It just happened I was in town and they needed help, so let’s help them," Bullard resident Will Ross said.
Ross works in the oil field, but says when storms come through, he becomes a debris clearer. Ross checks Facebook to see where the most damage has been done, loads his truck with whatever he needs to clear it, and heads out to help.
"Over a thousand (911) calls. Of the traffic light (outages), 19 are still not working properly, there were 40 that were not working properly. 206 trees down, and 165 blocked roadways," Tyler Mayor Don Warren said.
A tree down near the corner of Amherst and Pollard drive was the first place Ross went to work. Ross spent the morning cutting up and removing a trio of pine trees that came together to take down a power line.
"It was terrifying. Just the noise, and watching, it was actually three pine trees falling down from the neighbor’s yard and I’m just glad they went toward the road and not toward any houses," Tyler resident Cindy Smith said.
East Texas residents are lending a helping hand, but the city of Tyler has called on state resources to help them clear up roads.
"We put in a state request for a saw team. That’s a team which is a task force, a group of five to eight people to come in and help us cut trees," Tyler Fire Department Chief David Coble said.
While the saw team is making its way around town, people can thank East Texans like Ross for stepping up and helping them to find a sense of safety a little sooner.
"If you’re able to help, help somebody ya know. Just driving around taking pictures of stuff don’t really do much good, but if you’ve got some way of helping them, do it. That’s just kind of how I am, how I wanted to be," Ross said.