A strange parade moved down Ford Road Friday — a large 18-wheeler, followed by a track hoe, followed by a utility truck and a street sweeper bringing up the rear.

Vicksburg’s flood debris removal crews were making a second pass through Kings, in the northern part of the city.

“We have now covered every (flood-damaged) area in the city once, and most areas twice,” debris cleanup supervisor Jeff Richardson said, adding that city workers collected several piles of flood debris on Cedars Circle in south Vicksburg early Friday morning.

“This has gone faster than we anticipated,” Richardson said. “We are very pleased.”

As of Friday morning, city purchasing director Tim Smith said, crews had collected an estimated 144 tons of flood debris. He said the city paid Waste Management fees totaling $4,464 to dispose of it, and paid the four debris monitors hired by the city $1,344 for the first week.

A week ago, on June 24, the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to use city crews and equipment to remove flood debris, and the board voted to hire four monitors to ensure the collection met Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations.

Flood debris removal began Tuesday morning on Williams Street and Ford Road. By Thursday, collections in most of the northern part of the city were complete.

Friday, the crews revisited Hutson Street, Kings Crossing, Railroad Alley and Pittman Street before returning to Ford Subdivision.

“Things have been going pretty well,” debris monitor Orlandus O’Leary said as he watched a track hoe load into a truck flood debris in front of Cathy Bright’s home on Williams Street.

“This will help a lot,” Bright said as she hung clothes from the rafters of her porch and examined items from the house. Willie Brown, who was helping Bright, was building a second pile of debris as the track hoe was removing the first.

“I was surprised that they came this soon,” she said. “I had been told they wouldn’t be here until next week.”

Bright’s house is elevated 10 feet off the ground and took on two feet of floodwater. She has been away from home since May 3, when electricity was cut.

“We were already moving (out),” she said. “When Entergy cut the power, we had no choice. This is the first time I’ve been able to get back here and do what needs to be done. It could have been a lot worse.”

She plans to repair her home and move back in.

O’Leary said he expects the disposal crews will revisit Bright’s home and others in the flooded areas next week.

“This is going to be a long weekend, and some people may return to their homes to clean them out,” he said.

Richardson said the crews are expected to begin a second round of collection and removal in the flood-damaged areas Wednesday.