Van Zandt County cleanup efforts postponed ahead of storms

VAN ZANDT COUNTY, Texas - Wednesday afternoon's storms moved right across some of the same areas hit by weekend tornadoes in East Texas.

It was not what people in Van Zandt County needed as they continue to clean up and get life back to normal.

Residents have only had a couple days to process the damage and try to clean up before getting rained on again. A lot of the homes in the area have roof damage and trees down. Neighbors tried to get as much work done before a second round of storms delayed them.

Authorities shut down the volunteer operations at the Van Zandt County fairgrounds and were turning away volunteers by 11:30 a.m. ahead of the storms.

All this week, people have been showing up at the fairgrounds to drop off donations or find a way to help. But on Wednesday, dozens were told to just come back the next day, losing out on about half a day of work as they shut everything down.

Utility and tree removal crews were also out earlier to try and get as much cleanup work done as they could before the storms hit. But officials were prepared this time around and warned residents early in the morning of what might happen.

“Rest assured we already have the volunteers, we already have everything in place,” said Van Zandt County Judge Don Kirkpatrick. “I just want to reassure Van Zandt that we're ok. It's under control. We've got it.”

Volunteer services will resume Thursday at 7 a.m. at the Van Zandt County fairgrounds on Highway 64.

The Canton Civic Center will be open Thursday through Monday with multiple agencies on hand to offer any kind of assistance needed to anyone affected by the tornadoes.

The county announced a new Facebook page called the “Van Zandt County Tornado 2017.” It's a place for people needing information and help.