Lebanon County clean-up efforts, business reopenings underway

(Undated) -- Residents, clean-up crews, and business owners in Lebanon County are hoping to get back to normal soon in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy.

Lebanon County Emergency Management Director Daniel Kauffman says last year's experience with Tropical Storm Lee helped the county be more prepared this week. "Probably one of the big things is communication. Staffing. We're thinking ahead about resources, where maybe we were more reactive before, you know, we were proactive this time."

Many businesses are reopening their doors.

Mary Morrissey owns Tom B. Morrissey TV and Appliances in Myerstown, and says the shop fared better than expected in the past few days. "We didn't lose electric, thank heavens. We have electric, but we were selling dehumidifiers, batteries, and radios. People were coming in."

Morrissey says she's also getting many calls about fixing radios and dehumidifiers that were damaged in the storm.

The city of Lebanon is opening its Green Waste Center on North Eighth Street today, Friday, and Saturday, so residents can deposit yard waste materials, branches, and leaves free of charge.