QUESTION:
Can you provide some tips for storm preparation?
Answer:
If it takes sun and rain to produce rainbows, Florida skies will pass with flying colors. Sun and rain are inevitable. Frequent summer storms are inevitable. Seasonal tropical systems and hurricanes are inevitable. The narrow peninsula, between warm Atlantic and Gulf waters, offers no escape, nor a safe haven from severe weather. Our urban forest canopies are always under the weather with acute or chronic stressors. With proper preparation, they can remain strong and resilient. With sound urban forestry practices, forest canopies will inevitably thrive with a level of immunity, impunity, vitality, and endurance.
Urban tree canopies are vulnerable to severe storms and intense environmental impacts, but they are amazingly resilient. Like a prize fighter, trees and forest canopies can take a hit and bounce back if healthy, in great shape, and under good management. Stepping into the ring unprepared is ill-advised.
Plan Ahead
Having a storm/disaster plan in place prior to an advancing storm is the “top tip” for hurricane preparation. Once a trajectory path for a named storm is announced, expect disruptions in the normal supply of fuel, consumer goods, medical supplies, communication systems, and response times for service requests to municipalities, utilities, and tree-care providers. A comprehensive storm plan should include an evacuation plan, a communication plan, a financial plan, and, if you have trees, a tree maintenance and recovery plan.
Understanding the strengths and risks of your home, property, and local area will enable you to prepare a game plan that fits your circumstances. Assembling an emergency supply kit, tree-care services, and addressing utility/tree conflicts should be scheduled and completed well in advance of an advancing storm.
Prescribed Tree Maintenance
Prescribed tree maintenance plans and assessments are important factors when avoiding tree failure from chronic environmental forces or the acute shock and clash with storms. Tree hazards, such as poor structure, structural defects, diseased parts, dead stems, broken branches, previous wounds, and adjacent tree and infrastructure conflicts, are examples of where and why trees fail due to wind, rain, and flood.
A preventative pruning program can mitigate the risks of tree failures – before, during, and after storms. Proper pruning objectives, practices, and cycles can promote good structure and storm resistance. For some basic tips to evaluating a tree’s health, revisit Stump The Forester at https://fufc.org/downloads/councilquarterly17v3.pdf.
After the Storm
After the storm, once the storm is over, you may not be out of the woods yet. Trees and tree parts will continue to fail and fall for days, weeks, and perhaps months after the storm. In a short time, trees that survived the initial storm may slowly succumb to weakened root systems and impaired branches. Municipalities, utilities, and private property owners have experienced latent tree failure in the wake of large storms. Recovery systems, risk assessments, and budgets should be in place for an extended period. For top tree tips following a major storm event, revisit Stump The Forester at https://fufc.org/downloads/councilquarterly24v4.pdf.
Fight or Flight
Prepare to shelter in place or evacuate. Avoid flood waters, especially. Don’t get carried away with the dangers, risks, and inconveniences associated with a storm surge and flood waters from riverbanks, rising creeks, inundated drainage systems, and susceptible low areas. Flood waters can block access; submerge hazards; contaminate soils, food, and supplies; disrupt underground utilities; and invite displaced wildlife. Seek high ground. Prepare an evacuation plan and follow local evacuation advisories. For a brief discussion about the impact storm flooding will have on trees, revisit Stump The Forester at https://fufc.org/downloads/councilquarterly17v4.pdf.
Finance & Insurance
Have your finances & insurance coverage in order. Fully fund your emergency budget. Be prepared to finance insurance deductibles. Secure some cash, as electronic credit card devices may be temporarily out of service.
Don’t Go It Alone:
Seek expert professional help. Know in advance the professional sources you may need after the storm. For example, only qualified line-clearance professionals are equipped to complete work near power lines. Remember, trees and utilities run underground, too. Licensed and insured contract services are highly recommended. Professional tree-care services will have the experience, tools, gear, techniques, and solutions to complete a task effectively and safely. Follow the operating manual instructions for any equipment you may be using.
Public services have plans, resources, and personnel in place. Fortunately, the restoration process and storm response are not haphazard or chaotic as it might first appear. Restoration efforts are preplanned, strategic, methodical, and in most cases, rehearsed. Early in the storm season, public entities are conducting assessments, identifying vulnerabilities, reviewing past experiences, securing equipment, preparing mutual aid contracts, and training staff. Once a storm is in the forecast, it won’t be business as usual. Municipalities, utilities, and other public services activate pre-planned priorities, tasks, schedules, and locations associated with critical infrastructure and the backbone of essential public services. The autonomy of emergency services, municipalities, utilities, and local and state agencies will often fade as they unite with a collective, interdisciplinary approach to authority, responsibilities, funds, personnel, facilities, equipment, communication, and the influx of mutual aid. Urgency and availability of response crews may not necessarily be aimed at the need and desire of individual requests for services.
Once core public safety repairs are complete, response crews will expand restoration efforts to commercial zones, businesses, community centers, and eventually to individual needs.
Think About it
Grocery, hardware, and retail stores, restaurants, and financial institutions can provide residents, homeowners, and individuals with the products, services, and alternatives needed to make repairs and sustain a temporary level of comfort until life can return to a familiar state of normalcy.
Storms are “Preparable”
Trees, communities, and individuals are reparable. Florida sun, rain, and rainbows are inevitable.
To learn more, you can obtain a Homeowner’s Handbook to Prepare for Natural Disasters from your local UF/IFAS Extension Office.
Answer provided by Joe Anderson – JEA Veg. Mgt Spp, ISA Arborist, FUFC & FL-ISA Board Member
