Preparing Your Urban Forest for Storms Tips on how to minimize damage By Josh Behounek From my experience working with local governments, storm preparation is usually a huge concern among all residents and all departments. Urban forestry can be a concern, too.
Unlike other components of a community’s infrastructure, trees and urban forests continue to appreciate in value as they age and get larger, therefore increasing environmental functions and services.
When a storm event occurs, tree debris is often one of the first things a community must focus on. Trees can fail and when they do, they impact roadways, utility lines, street lights, intersections, personal property, and people.
Within a community, there are these two types of trees: assets and liabilities. Assets are trees planted in the right place for the right reason that do not pose an unacceptable level of risk to the community. Liabilities are trees posing an unacceptable level of risk to the community that do not provide an environmental function.
Before power can be restored and primary responders can do their jobs, trees will need to be pruned, removed, and cleaned up. While it is impossible to be completely prepared for a storm incident, it is possible to be ready to react and minimize negative impacts from tree damage.
Dealing with a storm involves three distinct phases. The initial phase is all about preparation before the storm. The second phase is what you are doing during the actual storm, and the third phase is cleanup following the storm event.
Your community’s urban forest is made up of both public and private trees, and they are an important part of the community’s infrastructure. Urban forests provide a host of environmental functions and services—from avoiding stormwater runoff, reducing energy consumption, increasing property values, absorbing CO2, and improving the quality of life in a community.
The Calm Before the Storm At the most basic level, an urban forest that is prepared for a storm event will be more resilient. This will save time and money, as well as provide a service to residents who do not have to live with the disruption and destruction from tree damage.
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SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
