Fatality in Atlanta

[pantheraba]

Local news...a 40" diameter poplar fell through the roof and top floor of a house yesterday..killed a young father of two. We have had a LOT of rain and wind with the recent hurricane so that must have been a factor.

The local news announcer was encouraging people to "consult an arborist" if they had concerns about any of their trees.

Another news announcer asked a local tree company representative if folks should sleep on the lower level of their homes during storms. Her reply was, "Yes".

 

[MasterBlaster]

I saw that yesterday. The mother and kids were in the basement. Dad decided to sleep upstairs. It was preventable, bummer.

 

[pantheraba]

Yep, just found a link to the story...a lot of sadness there.

http://www.wsbtv.com/weather/4706512/detail.html

 

[vharrison2]

How very sad, he was so young.

 

[Chris J.]

Very sad, but it need not have happened.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Moral of the story; go to the basement during a storm.

 

[Treeman14]

I don't know anyone around here who has a basement.

 

[MasterBlaster]

He had one.

 

[Trinity Honoria]

Can you educate me?

I live in South Carolina, in an older area of the city. In the past 18 months, many of the large oaks (over 60 years old) have "tipped over" after heavy rains... my front yard has two pecan trees over 30' high... what do I look for to see if these trees are at risk of toppling over? NOTE: I have no basement for a retreat during storms... and many of the tipping trees have gone over after the rain has passed...

Thanks in advance...

 

[MasterBlaster]

Check for the root ball raising slightly on one side.

 

[runninghot]

What are the odds of that tree coming down right on top of the unfortunate fellow in his bed, unless the tree was leaning in that direction in the first place. That is some bad luck happening there.....
Maybe it is a good idea to prune trees to carry them away from residences if they should go over?

 

[Chris J.]

I was curious about the basement as well; here near the Gulf Coast basements are rare. I've been told it has something to do with the moisture level in the soil & trying to keep water out of the basement, but I have no idea if that's true.

 

[Ekka]

We had some rain about a week ago, it rain lightly but for 4 days straight. Over the period we got about 12".

I'm still quoting fall overs, the soil gets soft, the trees get heavy and wella!

I've even seen palms fall over, mango trees, gum trees ... they're all in there.

If your soil has a characteristc of becoming soft, mushy and boggy then your trees could be a candidate. On hard well draining rocky or sandy soils not a problem.

It's a mystery to know which trees and when they'll fall ... usually the soil lift at the root ball happens during that rain, bit of wind to help or weight of the tree ... cant see too many people checking their trees in that bad weather.

Personally, I have no trees within striking distance of the house.

 

[Jim1NZ]

I live in South Carolina, in an older area of the city. In the past 18 months, many of the large oaks (over 60 years old) have "tipped over" after heavy rains... my front yard has two pecan trees over 30' high... what do I look for to see if these trees are at risk of toppling over? NOTE: I have no basement for a retreat during storms... and many of the tipping trees have gone over after the rain has passed...

Thanks in advance...

Look for any radial cracks around the root plate