Tumbleweeds have piled up so badly around some Hurricane homes that residents say they can't get out their front doors or open their garages. Hurricane Mayor Clark Fawcett is responding with a community cleanup called Tumbleweed Takeover, scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon on state-owned property at 1375 W. State Street, just north of State Street and east of Gould Wash.
Fawcett, who took office in January 2026, has been organizing these gatherings as part of what he calls his “mayor meetups,” according to KSL.com. He said he's personally committed to a steep target: “I committed to taking at least 1,000 tumbleweeds myself, which I'm up to 500 so far,” Fawcett said, per the same report.
The mayor described the scope of the problem bluntly. “We get people sending us pictures that show that they can't even get out of their front doors or open up their garage because of all the tumbleweeds,” he said. He added that while tumbleweeds carry a certain nostalgic, iconic-Southwest charm for some residents, they've become a serious nuisance, blocking sidewalks and making some areas impassable.
A Citywide Push With a Six-Figure Goal
The Nov. 14 event is just one piece of a larger effort. Hurricane City has set a community goal of collecting 100,000 tumbleweeds across the month of November, according to a city newsflash posted by Hurricane City. Volunteers heading to Saturday's cleanup are asked to bring gloves and shovels to help tackle the pileup.
Fawcett has also been pressing developers to deal with tumbleweed buildup on their own land. In a November 2, 2026, update, the city's newsflash noted he had sent notices to subdivision developers and builders asking them to clean up their properties. He said he hopes residents will clean their own subdivisions as part of the push, with the broader goal of raising awareness and making real progress on the problem.
Cash Prizes, But Conflicting Numbers
To sweeten the pitch for volunteers, Fawcett rolled out a contest with cash rewards for whoever clears the most tumbleweeds. According to KSL, he described the prizes as $250 for first place, $200 for second and $150 for third. However, Hurricane City's own newsflash lists a different breakdown: $250 for first place, $150 for second place and $100 for third place. It is not clear from available information which set of prize amounts will actually apply.
Entrants are expected to submit before-and-after photos of the areas they clean, and the city's post specifies that contestants will need photos, the location of their work and verification of what they did. Despite the incentive, Fawcett told KSL he hadn't seen anyone take him up on the challenge yet. “I started a little contest, which I haven't seen anybody accept yet,” he said.
Green and Heavy Before the Desert Dries Them Out
At the cleanup site itself, the tumbleweeds are still green and heavy, not yet the light, bouncing husks most people picture.
Fawcett's hope, as described in the KSL report, is that the gathering does double duty: chipping away at a problem residents have raised while also building some community goodwill along the way. Whether volunteers turn out in force, and how close the city gets to its 100,000-tumbleweed goal for November, remains to be seen.
