More than two weeks after the June 27th storm, west Omaha got the attention of tree debris removal crews on Monday.

The majority of debris removed by the city from public right-of-ways had until now come from inside the borders of the interstate and the Missouri River.

Crews were in Elkhorn around 214th and Blondo in the morning. "Our shaded deck is now full of sun,” says Joan Jansen. "We lost about four trees."

Jansen took notice when she saw an Omaha Public Works crew clearing tree debris. She understood that for a community that had more than 100,000 people without power two weeks ago, the cleanup would take awhile. "It wasn't too late because it took a lot of time just to cut up the trees."

For the first time, crews were out west of 156th Street. They believe they can have this area of Elkhorn cleaned out in three days, then work their way towards the interstate.

Many homeowners have been taking the debris they can handle to Ta-Ha-Zouka Park, but it gets busy on weekends, the labor is hard and gas used is expensive. "It takes a lot of time to sit in line at the park to unload a truck,” says Jansen. “You sit in line for an hour to unload for five minutes and then come back and do it again."

An indication that progress has been made is three of the debris drop-off sites will close this week. Ta-Ha-Zouka Park (208th and Elkhorn Drive), 135th & Potwin (old Millard Lumber site) and 22nd and Washington will close at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The Tranquility Park and 11th and Locust sites will remain open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. through at least July 20th, and could remain open longer depending on usage.