PARIS, Mo. (WGEM) -
With back-to-back snow storms, some parts of the Tri-States got more than a foot and a half of snow. For one Northeast Missouri town, it's going to take some outside help to clean up damage left behind from the storms.
In Paris, Missouri, cleanup is more than just plowing streets and shoveling sidewalks. The heavy snow brought a lot of tree limbs down. The First Baptist Church of Paris has teamed up with Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief to help residents get through these winter storms.
"But it's widespread. All over town. Each property may have three, four, five limbs down so it's widespread it covers the whole town and surrounding areas," said Paris Superintendent Phillip Shatzer.
He said it's been eight or nine years since he's seen damage like this in Paris. Whether it's collapsed roofs or fallen branches, more than 20 inches of snow over the last week took its toll. Shatzer said because of that, help is needed.
"It's going to be a tremendous benefit for the residents for the city of Paris because they would be required to remove the brush on their own and we've got a lot of elderly people and they would have to hire this done," he said.
While the majority of the damage was fallen tree branches, you could see there were areas where the damage was much greater. Brenda Ensor is the Disaster Relief Coordinator for the First Baptist Church of Paris, and they got the ball rolling right away.
"I believe that even on the day of our storm our pastor was thinking in terms of what can we do to help and made contact with the city superintendent Phillip Shatzer just to find out if there's enough damage here that it would be of use to the city and the answer is yes there probably is," she said.
Volunteers will be throughout the area next Wednesday through Friday and this service is open to any Paris resident or the surrounding area. But you have to call first and let the church know if you need help. If you need assistance and don't know who to call, you can call the First Baptist Church of Paris at (660) 327-4405.
