 Natural Resources
Storm Damage Recovery
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Audio/Video Script:
Dr. Tamara Walkingstick
Environmental and Natural Resources
Storms are a fact of life in Arkansas. We have wind storms, we have ice
storms and many times trees are damaged and actually destroyed. So, for many
Arkansans the first question is, "So what do I do now?"
The first thing to remember is that most of the damage to your trees - unless
it’s on your power lines - can wait. You don’t need to immediately do something.
If you do have damage to your power lines, don’t deal with it. You let
the electrical company or the professionals do that.
Then the homeowner needs to go out and, first of all, do an assessment. What
type of damage do you really have? If you have "split trunks", which means the
whole tree is split, that’s kind of the highest level of damage. And you can go
backwards with decreasing levels of damage to just small twigs or small branches
that are broken out. What percentage of your crown, what percentage of the tree
that produces leaves is actually left? If more than 50 percent of the crown is
damaged, you might have to consider taking that particular tree out of your
landscape.
If there is something that is a potential hazard what type of target might
you have? Would this large branch fall on your home or yourself? If there’s a
good chance that it could do that kind of damage then that really needs… you
really need to make sure that you take that tree out.
Unless you are qualified and you know what you are doing, the best thing to
do is to look for a certified tree arborist or tree-service company that
absolutely knows what they’re doing.
After you’ve made the decision, you’ve had the cleanup, you also might need
to consider, "Do you need to go in with a new tree?" And the thing to look at
is, "What type of tree species best suites your particular circumstance.
Like I said, ice storms and wind storms are a fact of life in Arkansas. It’s
going to happen again. So what you need to do is select those species that have
been shown by research to be the most resistant to both ice and wind.
After a storm event, most home-owners want to know, "What can they do with
the waste?" Perhaps they have just small branches or medium sized branches. And
they don’t really need to pay a professional to come and remove that. Many of
the questions are, "Can I burn this wood? Can I chip up this wood…" or whatever.
And the answer is; it really depends on your ability and your familiarity with
using a chainsaw or other equipment.
Now if it’s larger stems and you can use a chainsaw, you can cut those pieces
into firewood, but you need to dry them first. Green wood does not burn properly
and the danger is that you will get accumulation of creosote in your chimney.
Creosote is highly flammable.
If you have a chipper or borrow a chipper, that might be one of the best
things to do. Just chip that wood up. Otherwise you might just slowly move it
out into your compost or put it out for the city to pick up, or whatever it is
folks in your area do with storm damaged wood.
Announcer
To learn more,
contact your county Extension agent, and follow the links in this section.
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