Dallas residents want action. The city is asking for patience. All the while, the debris keeps piling up.
Recent storms have caused an increase in brush and bulk along Dallas' neighborhood sidewalks.
Maria Cortez enjoys spending time with her kids in the front yard. She's put in work to making it feel cozy.
These days, though, she avoids inviting guests over and wouldn't dare host a party, because if they saw the debris in front of her house, she's afraid of what they'd say.
"If I have a birthday party, the people are going to come and they're going to be saying 'oh I don't want to go in there because it might stink or it could be a lot of flies,'" said Cortez.
She said storm debris has been piled up like this in her northeast Dallas neighborhood for weeks.
"Over there in the corner. In front of my house. This house, and this house. It's sad," she said.
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The problem isn't lost on the city, and they're asking for patience.
A memo from the Sanitation department explains - recent storms have increased bulk, and have slowed the collection process.
Neighbors Tevar Johnson and Joanna Jones are frustrated.
"If the kids are out playing it just limits the space and it just makes the neighborhood look bad," said Johnson.
"You don't know what's up under there. Could be snakes. Could be anything up under this," said Jones.
The city will bring on additional contractors to help with pickup over the next several weeks. 10 have been hired to add to the roster.
We're told some 135 pieces of equipment will be out on the streets collecting debris.
Cortez hopes by the end of summer she can back to enjoying her front yard.
"I don't want to bring my people and look at the trash like that," said Cortez.
