Hundreds of logs have been pulled from the log jam caught in the Smoky Hill River near Bill Burke Park – with thousands more to go.

Salina City Manager Jacob Wood joined in on the KSAL Morning News Extra with an update on the project to remove the piles of driftwood.

Woods tells KSAL News that crews from Diehl Enterprises have already pulled out more than 220 loads of debris from the river. Loads are being stacked at an open area at the Salina Wastewater Treatment Plant northeast of town, where they will be burned.

The project was approved in late July at a cost of just over $452,000. That number has now increased to $1.2 million because of several more rain events.

City Commissioners were told Monday that disaster relief funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is anticipated. Preliminary Disaster Assessments include $325,925.93 for July, and $388,404.24 for September, resulting in a total of $714,330.17.

Heavy rain events in June and July led to a high volume of water in the Smoky Hill River that pushed logs and debris into the massive pile that is trapped on the bank near Bill Burke Park.