Trees damaged during windstorm

[seattlemags]

Hi,

We had a wind storm in Seattle Sunday. Two trees came down (about 30 foot sections, one was a second leader and the other was the top of the tree). It is taking awhile to get someone scheduled to do an assessment, but since our house is pretty much in the drip line of these 80 foot trees I’m a little worried. There are six trees in total, but 4 I’m really worried about:
Tree 1 - tree top fell



Tree 2 had a double leader, and one side ripped off.


Tree 3 has a V split, with a crack going down from it about 6 or 7 feet. This is similar to what tree 2 had


Tree 4 has some sort of hole in it. I can't really see the damage as it is about 30 feet up

Tree 5 had some branches ripped off when tree 2 fell, and now has branches only on one side.

To give a sense of why I am worried, this is my backyard. Those trees are about 20ft away from one side of the house. When the two fell on Sunday, they somehow fell right into the grass area and only took out part of the fence, a bunch of bushes and my gutter. 10 feet to the left and they are taking out the houe.

 

[seattlemags]

Also, there were several other similar trees that may have protected those trees for many years, but they were removed about a year ago. Can that also make trees more susceptible to failure?

 

[Kdawg]

Thuja Occidentalis or white cedar starts falling/splitting apart in my woods when trees get to be that size. I have very few larger than that. It’s nice wood for the right application so get the guy with a bandsaw mill out there if you decide to have them taken down. Call a professional with verifiable insurance. I witnessed a Sawyer run, dodging all the way as a cedar of that size came completely apart in the felling process. He’s lucky to be alive and had your house been there, it would have been hit.