Wichita ? Nearly three months after an ice storm left thousands of trees in Sedgwick County mangled and broken, officials are warning that downed limbs could endanger bridges and cause more flooding problems this year than normal.

David Spears, the county’s public works director, said the situation was the worst he had seen in more than 20 years.

“It’s not just one spot,” he said. “It’s the entire county.”

Spears said the limbs already had started to clog streams, and with a stream, creek or river flowing through every square mile of Sedgwick County, there weren’t enough workers to make much more than a dent in the problem.

On top of that, much of the cleanup that needs to be done is on private property, where public workers cannot go.

“We can’t force these people to do anything,” County Commissioner Ben Sciortino said.

Spears said he expected rains next month to knock more limbs down and wash them into the waterways.

“The damage is yet to come,” he said.

Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency are trying to determine whether federal aid is available to help individuals with the cleanup. The county also may hire a contractor to help remove the debris from waterways.

A county crew of four stream maintenance workers has been pulling truckload after truckload of timber from the waterways, Spears said. But they’re not making much progress.

He said it could cost more than $2.4 million to clean up debris around the county’s 649 bridges, which are the most critical spots because logs that press against the structures could collapse the overpasses.