Cushing Man Pays Price To Clear Lawn After Devastating Storms

People cleaning up from last week’s storms across all of Oklahoma are realizing the actual cost they now need to pay.

“We were in our living room,” said Liam Byrd, a homeowner in Cushing who received severe damage to his home last weekend. “The Sycamore crushed the heck out of the carport. And that was the sight we walked out to.”

While Byrd’s 102-year-old house escaped the worst of it -- only sustaining minor roof damage – a 70-foot-tall Sycamore tree fell across his yard. The cost to remove it? $2,500.

Other bits of debris were littered across his property: metal sheeting, branches and rocks. He anticipates it will cost $4,000 more to get the rest of it cleared.

“It’s just real hard for regular working folks to tackle this,” he said.

Unfortunately, Byrd’s home is uninsured, which leaves him facing out-of-pocket costs to get everything back to normal.

His family and friends have pitched in as much as they can, but ultimately heavy machinery will be needed for some larger items.

“It’s been nonstop bucket trucks and woodchippers up and down [the road] here,” he said.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced earlier this week his office was already fielding calls from Oklahomans about alleged price gouging.

While Byrd doesn’t necessarily know if the prices he is facing are gouges, he remains weary of the increasing costs associated with last week’s storms.