Beavercreek officials say city’s seen a lot of progress, but still a long way to go

Two weeks ago we were hit by 15 tornadoes across the Miami Valley, and one community hit says it’s on the road to recovery.

At the Beavercreek City Council meeting Monday night, they said there’s been a lot of progress, but there’s still a long way to go.

All roads are passable, and the infrastructure is generally in good shape, but many businesses are still damaged.

>> Marathon Foundation donates $100K to Dayton-area tornado relief

Beavercreek City Manager Pete Landrum says 50 to 60 crews have worked non-stop on cleanup.

“We’re starting to make some dents, and that’s encouraging,” he said. “(But) I don’t want to make anybody feel like we’re going to wrap it up this week, that’s just not the case.”

Mayor Bob Stone estimates that half of the tree debris has been cleaned up at most, but there’s still all the debris from damaged houses and buildings to pick up.

“The people themselves that are in the path have a long, long way to go,” he said.

>> Other local news

One resident came with concerns as to why there were no tornado sirens in Beavercreek.

“Xenia has one, the base has one, why can’t we,” said Ian Crowe.

Mayor Stone says he believes news coverage and smartphone technology may actually be better tools than only just sirens.

“We need to encourage everybody to have a weather app on their phone. So many people told me they were going to bed and their phone went off,” he said. “But we’re going to look into it.”