Debris from the April 27 tornado that devastated parts of Fultondale is “99 percent” cleaned up, according to the city’s mayor.

“The cleanup will be mostly complete by July 1,” said Mayor Jim Lowery. “We’ll still have a few houses to take care of… but 99 percent of it will be finished on the first.”

The city will host a public hearing July 5, 9 a.m., at Fultondale City Hall, regarding about 10 vacant houses slated for condemnation after receiving heavy damage from the tornado.

Officials said city workers were unable to contact the owners of most of the houses.

Lowery said he did not want residents to think the city was going to stop working toward storm recovery after the first of the month; rather, he said the city will continue to help people as long as necessary.

Lowery said that during the next year, the city will likely have to condemn another 10 or 15 homes because of damage. He said the condemnations are strictly vacant houses, and “none that people are actually living in.”

The city in May contracted with Hemphill Construction to serve as project manager for the storm cleanup. The company orchestrated three sweeps throughout the city, picking up 85,620 cubic yards of debris, according to John Bourgeois, a supervisor with Hemphill.

Bourgeois said July 12 is the deadline for home owners to complete right-of-entry (ROE) forms that will allow the company to enter private property in order to remove debris.

On Friday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved 220 ROE requests and the company had completed 156 of them. There are still 50 requests pending FEMA approval, according to Bourgeois.

FEMA is funding the majority of the cleanup in Fultondale.

The city of Warrior is also checking into getting FEMA assistance for storm cleanup.

To fill out an ROE form in Fultondale or for more information, call Hemphill’s Fultondale office at 841-6544 or visit the office at 1351 Decatur Hwy., office space 13. Staff on hand will help residents fill out the form.