Hurricane Clean-UP

[Tree Machine]

Hey KLB, welcome to the site. Your questions are the questions that many have and I just got the answers from the Head of Urban Forestry, in Jackson Mississippi. She's a central figure, far enough from ground zero to be able to look from the outside-in, but not so 'inside' that your overwhelmed by the magnitude. She's been taking frequent trips down so has a firsthand view of all that's going on. Also, she's a point contact for other City Foresters and FEMA. I'll hit KLB's questions one at a time.

1. What areas need work the most? The areas south of Hattisburg. There is damage all the way up to Jackson (and beyond), but not so much that our resources should be deployed there. From east to west, the entire Mississippi shoreline, north for nearly a hundred miles, all that extending eastward for a ways into Alabama. Loisiana, from New Orleans, 20 miles west, and north out of the city ~50 miles, from there damage shifts eastward into Mississippi

2. Do the cell phones work anywhere near these areas? Spotty, but it really depends on your provider. Restoring cell service has been a priority as that is easier to restore than the hundreds of miles of downed lines. It gets better every day.
3. Do you need a MISS. or LA. business license to operate there?The 'unofficial word', whether or not you have a business license is not the highest priority. INSURANCE IS. Definitely have your insurance papers on you. People are being warned about scam artists and fly-by-nights and insurance papers are one of the big seperators to the unknowing homeowner eye. However, if you're out there scraping people and a compaint is lodged against you, you may be asked questions like that. ADVICE, don't scrape people. Be there to help them. They're still shell-shocked and just want to get the trees off their houses and garages before the next rain.
4. How much chain is enough? I'd be as concerned of having enough files and a few extra bars, spare sprockets, clutch springs, etc. Stop in at your local saw shop before you head out.
5. How do you become a sub for FEMA or someone else that is hauling?FEMA is visible and will direct you. Just make direct contact once in the area. I can not speak on what it takes to get a contract with them. I don't know their requirements.

Good luck, Men. The official word is there are tens of thousands of homes in need of arborists, but only hundreds of arborists available to service the areas.

 

[Ross Turner]

Just seen this on another site,Not sure if already here but here it is again.

nfectious Disease Research in and Around New Orleans: At the very least, there are four Level-3 biolabs in New Orleans and a cluster of three in nearby Covington. They have been working with anthrax, mousepox, HIV, plague, etc. There are surely other labs in the city.


Here's an a extremely important angle on the situation in New Orleans. As far as I can tell, no one has yet mentioned the biological research labs located in and around NOLA. For example, in nearby Covington, Tulane University runs the Tulane National Primate Research Center, a cluster of Level-3 biological labs containing around 5,000 monkeys and 400 canines, most of which are housed in outdoor cages. According to an article in Tulane University Magazine, "The primary areas of focus today at the Tulane National Primate Research Center are infectious diseases, including biodefense related work, gene therapy, reproductive biology and neuroscience. The Tulane primate center is playing a key role in the federal strategic plan for biodefense research."

So what happened to these diseased monkeys living outside in cages? My friend indicates all the dogs are missing. Granted, Covington didn't get hit nearly as hard as NOLA, but it still got hit.

According to the Sunshine Project, which digs up grant proposals and other primary documents from the US biowarfare effort, "Tulane scientists are working with anthrax, plague, and other biological weapons agents."

And how much of this kind of research was going on within New Orleans itself? Apparently quite a bit.

-- Louisiana State University’s Medical School has a Level-3 biolab in the Clinical Sciences Research Building located at 533 Bolivar Street. According to grant applications, LSU’s facility was the site of research involving anthrax and genetically-engineered mousepox. And that’s just what we know about.

-- The State of Louisiana has a Level-3 biolab in New Orleans.

-- It seems highly likely that an institution the size of Tulane has biolabs in New Orleans itself, not just Covington.

-- Then there’s the University of New Orleans, Loyola University, Xavier University of Lousiana, and others. I don’t know whether they’ve been engaged in bioresearch or have high-level biolabs, but it’d be worth finding out.

-- And let’s not forget the New Orleans Medical Complex, which contains over 40 blocks of hospitals and biomedical research facilities. According to this website, it’s been severely flooded.

So with all the known and probable Level-3 biolabs in and around New Orleans, what's happened to the infected animals? Are they free and roaming? Are they dead, with their diseased bodies floating in the flood waters? And what about the cultures and vials of the diseases? Are they still secure? Are they being stolen? Were they washed away, now forming part of the toxic soup that coats the city?

And take a look at this. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a “Select Agents Program” for any facility that handles highly dangerous germs, including Ebola, Marburg, ricin, avian flu, and anthrax. Some of these facilities are in areas that are active in clean-up efforts. To try to get information for locations - or possible threats of exposures, contact the Program via email at [email protected], phone at 404-498-2255, fax at 404-498-2265. Good luck, the U.S. is in secret mode regarding warfare agents and more so involving keeping secrets secret from the public. It's your health, proceed accordingly.
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I encourage journalists to pursue these worthwhile questions and arborists to be aware of hidden dangers. Some of this stuff is a bit nasty. Today several hundred rescued dogs are landing in Los Angeles (9-12-05) from the Findapet.com program, some of these canines might be lab animals. There is no way to identify the specific animals as collar I.D.'s were the only form of identity and rescuers admit that many of the stranded animals found lacked such features.

 

[PTS]

Kyle (Palmer's tree services) is my husband...he is working in Mississippi at the moment, but I received a phone call from a stump grinding business from Delhi, Iowa that is interested in the hurricane clean up. If you have a number for me, I would like to refer him to you. You can email me at [email protected] or 563-927-4243. Thanks. Katie Palmer

 

[Tree Machine]

Hey, Thanks for jumping into the mix Ms Katie. Your husband did his homework, prepared well and I'm sure is doing excellent down there. Are you doing OK with your hubbie so far away? You can pop on here anytime if you need some reassurance that he's serving a very important function in the relief efforts of one of our nations worst natural disasters ever. If you ever question whether he should be there, or at home, we'll let you know that his time and duty in Mississippi are temporary, and he'll be coming back to you forever. He's helping a lot of people who are in desperate need for his strong skills and he's stepping up with long days, solid gear and the will of a champion. Personally, I'm very proud of him, and all the others, who have voluntarily left their family, friends and businesses to go down into a wrecked part of the country and bust their butts to make other people's worlds a better place. He's joined the legions of fellow Americans who've stepped up to help where help is so desperately needed.

And I thank YOU, Katie Palmer, for your part in supporting him. Your contribution here is publicly recognized. You knew that you would be spending nights alone and wondering every minute how he's doing. Still, you chose to let him go and supported his trip. To me, that's a huge gift to those impacted so again, thank you for your selfless donation to the effort.

 

[Tree Machine]

Oh, as far as stump grinder guy, let him know of this thread. I don't have any information that I have not shared here in open forum. However, if he wants to call me, my cell phone is 317-407-5113, home 317-257-6667. My wife has gotten that I'm involved as I'm taking 10 or 12 calls a day from all over the country. My part in this is small by comparison to the guys going down. I'm just a cheerleader.

 

[Tree Machine]

I got a phone call from Pantheraba this morning. we were discussing options on removing another pine that that had cut a garage roof in half and this giant, fallen log was now being supported by the garage walls. Did you all check out his pictures of the pine on the house a page ago? That guy is making it happen!

He's shot some video of the work they're doing, rigging big pines off of houses and structures and it may be some time before we can see some of that video work. I'm surprised he has the energy to post pictures for us at night. These dudes are workin loooooong days.

We'd love to hear more from within, but logistically, I can understand how difficult that would be. These are arborists on a mission and I know, some day, we're going to hear some wild stories. A number of these guys are full-fledged Arboristsite addicts, so at night, with no computer, it's gotta be real tough.

 

[KLBCCTALLY1]

Thanks T.M. for the information. I talked to Mississippi Board of Contractors today and they said no state license is required for tree work. Only for general contractors for homes rebuilding/repair and such. We will hopefully be heading out on Thursday this week. I'll let you guys know how it's going.

 

[Tree Machine]

EXCELLENT INFO. A much-needed piece of information from an official source. Were you the Florida guy who I talked to on the phone today in the grocery store as my wife rolled her eyes at me? That was fun, assisting a brother while choosing between Maxwell House Dark roast or 100% Colombian.

I'm serious. I will take a call from anyone, anytime.

 

[pantheraba]

News from Slidell / Picayune

TreeMachine,

We got the tree on the house down yesterday…used a Warn Winch to lift it clear of the house and a John Deere tractor (1979 model) to pull it up a little and mostly laterally to clear the house…had to rig from 2 different trees to do this…lots of chain and blocks floating around up there that day. Once it was about 2 feet away from the house we lowered it parallel to the house.

I went back up the trees at dusk to derig the first night when we had to move the belay point to a closer tree for the laydown work with the tractor the next day...had a pretty good moon and did that work at night by headlight at 60 feet.

Once we did the laydown I went back up at dusk again and derigged it all by moonlight again...it was a LOT cooler working at night and kind of peaceful, too. Just moved slowly and surely and enjoyed the evening.

Today, we worked on the tree that cut through the shed and was horizontal about 12 feet above ground. Your suggestions this morning helped us get this big ‘un out of the structure. We were able to use big ice tongs to grab the chunks and drag them up and out of the building with the Warn winch to about the half way point…had to use boards to make ramps for pieces to slide over the junk down below…video later of that will make sense of that.

The ice tong chunks were 3 feet to 5 feet, about 20-22 in. diameter…pretty heavy.

After that, we used your idea to cut 8-10 inch slices and roll them down the remaining trunk to the root ball.

We will rest tomorrow by exploring this area and delivering supplies/donations that we brought down with us...lots of folks in our area found out we were headed down and asked us to bring their donations. We will also be looking for other work that needs to be done.

We plan to work in Hattiesburg Thursday for a retired lady that has a lot of trees down around her trailer...Friday, we work for a 71 yr old man who survived Katrina in a john boat with his dog in the garage until the water got so high (8 feet) he had to go outside and move from roof to roof top until the flood passed.

He cannot get into his driveway and has a (thankfully MUCH smaller) pine on his house.

Thanks for being there with suggestions today…I’ll probably call again as we bump into other head scratchers.

 

[KLBCCTALLY1]

Wasn't me. I will post when I can. Anyone have any leads on campgrounds with electric or hotels within a reasonable distance from the zone or SW MISS? Please let me know. If I find any I will do likewise.

 

[BostonBull]

Anyone seen or heard from the Mayer guys from MA while down there? How are they doing?

 

[Tree Machine]

FEMA Contracts

I haven't heard from The Mayer guys.

I did get a call from TreeBob today. He was very gracious in offering up his time and information he gathered while 'in the zone'. TreeBob actually went to a FEMA center to do some information gathering for us, and here's what he came up with:

Regarding getting a FEMA contract, this is a government agency, filled with all the government red tape one might expect from a bureaucracy-laden government. These are just the formalities you need to have in order just to be able to apply for a contract and to get in line for inspection (you will be inspected). Are you ready?

Insurances: You will have your workman's comp and general liability insurances in order. if you are from out of state, you must have an interstate rider, which you must arrange with your current insurer prior to going down. Liability must be for a minimum 1 million.
Safety gear: All safety gear required by OSHA will be required. Inspection will show adequate PPE for all members of your team.
Signs: 'Tree Work Ahead' signs are required (2) and are available at the FEMA staging area.
Flagmen: If you are loading while on a thoroughfare, you must have two flagmen, one to the front, one to the rear whose sole job is to direct traffic.
Trucks and Equipment: No open-back trucks. Must have hinged gates and two latches.
Truck pulling a trailer: The truck must be at least 3/4 ton and have 4 wheel-drive. Either the truck or the trailer must be outfitted with a backup beeper.

If that's not enough, you get paid weekly, but there's a catch. You get paid for week 1 at the end of week two. In other words, you work two full weeks before you see a single peso. When you go home, you will get a check in the mail for the final weeks work.

So, there's the rules and regulations and hoops and tape required to work for FEMA. You are not required to work for FEMA to work down there. You can freelance to your heart's content. TreeBob did tell me that officials are checking on freelancers. What they're checking for is INSURANCE. There are, of course, hacks out there doing their thing, and if they're found to be non-complient and without insurance, they are told to leave the state. I think this is one of the more sensible things I've heard.

Bob also said, as we all pretty much know, there are just trees down everywhere.

 

[KentuckySawyer]

What city and state is TreeBob working in?

 

[bgingras]

Anyone seen or heard from the Mayer guys from MA while down there? How are they doing?

Is this the crew that Gicon went down with?

 

[BostonBull]

Yes I believe it is.

 

[Hardy Landscape]

News from the zone.

Spent the day down around Laurel and Hatiesburg. There is a lot of trees tore up, but I was actually quite amazed at how much had actually been cleaned up. I seen very few house that still had trees on them and I would say the majority of the areas I went through had most of the trees on the ground moved to the roadside for removal. There is still tons of aerial work to be done though.

Did get some info on the debris removal also. I actually went to the dump site in Laurel and Hattiesburg. Hattiesburg was pretty much like you descibed it in the post above. Corp inspectors everywhere. Added to what you said, vehicles had to be a steel enclosure and it had to be self dumping. Also, AshBritt has only 3 sub contractors. If you want to haul, you have to haul for one them. Basically, the people doing the work are getting the crumps left over from the 2 contractors above them.

Laurel was a little bit different story. Still an Ashbritt contract, but people were hauling debris in anything the had wheels. People were wiring 12' plywood sides to utility trailers, you had dump trucks with a piece orange plastic safety netting stretched across the back, ......You name it and they were using it.


Jay

 

[pantheraba]

Our small team worked in Hattiesburg, today. We took hazardous limbs from a large pine that were overhanging a mobile home. From the ground the busted off and barely hanging on limbs were obvious. I thought maybe a few hours to do the work. Once I got in the tree it got more involved. The hangers were large enough that if they got hung on the way down we would not have been able to lift them to redrop...so we roped down each limb in two pieces...still got hung some but they were manageable. It took 10 hours in that one tree to make it safe..I'm not as fast as some of you guys, just slow and steady.

But there are still problems in the tree. The owner will need to have someone come back later and address the remaining limbs that are twisted and burst open...from the ground they look fine, but up in the tree I could see that they will be a problem later.

I think there will be a lot of "emergency" cutting/dropping done to make trees safe but they will need more attention later to be done right.

Here are some pictures of today's job:

 

[pantheraba]

And a few more pictures:

 

[pantheraba]

Burst limbs, limb tear out

You can see from the pictures that there are problems remaining...the limb I was standing on was burst...looks fine from ground level but lots of trees got torqued/twisted and will be having problems.

The large open cut I made was where a large limb tore out...my face cut couldn't be done deep enough to do any good.

What do you do about a limb tear out like that? It is about 20 feet down from the top (tree is about 80 feet high).

 

[bgingras]

Yes I believe it is.

Greg(Gicon) left mississippi after there was a lot of trouble with the crew getting fema approval for their equipment. Some others in the group also left, I'm not sure what is going on with those remaining.