Arborist puzzled by condition of storm-downed trees in East Bay
By JOHN RAMOS
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OAKLAND, California (KPIX) — The series of punishing rainstorms has wreaked havoc on cities across the Bay Area and many of the problems — from downed power lines to blocked roads — are the result of falling trees. The situation is raising concerns with longtime homeowners and experienced tree professionals
In the area of the Oakland Hills known as Piedmont Pines, heavy rain and high winds have taken their toll on the huge trees that form a canopy over the neighborhood.
Tim Ports and Elizabeth Foust say they’ve never seen anything like it. A huge tree toppled over in the canyon just below their home and then another fell onto the street right in front.
“Oh, this is way more — this is way off the charts!” Ports said. “What we’ve experienced in the last week is, cumulatively, more than I can say we’ve experienced in 15 years.”
Combine years of drought with multiple “atmospheric rivers” and large, mature trees all over the Bay Area are being overwhelmed.
Julian Cabrerra owns Julian Tree Care and, on Saturday, he examined a huge pine that fell in the Montclair area of Oakland. That tree wasn’t uprooted, it simply snapped off at the base.
“I think definitely because the tree was too heavy and had a huge lean on it. Because I didn’t see any root failure. It didn’t uproot it. So, it’s telling me that the tree had healthy roots but it’s just too heavy,” Cabrerra said.
Cabrerra says most of the trees that are falling are large pines, cypress and eucalyptus that are near the end of their normal lifespans. The extreme weather may simply be hurrying the process but he has begun to notice something unusual happening.
“It’s something that I’ve never seen, because we can’t usually pick up a root ball and look at it. It’s decayed. It’s completely rotten, termites ate all the roots and I don’t know what was holding it.” Cabrerra said. “The tree looks beautiful — green, bright, very healthy — and the whole root system is decayed. I’m seeing that more often.”
Back in Piedmont Pines, the two homeowners were also noticing something different: water was pouring out of the ground in places they’d never seen before.
“I was, like, ‘that doesn’t seem good,'” Foust said. “It’s saturating and it’s coming out and it’s making a little crevice so, it was kind of near the trees and I thought ‘that can’t be good, that much water coming out of the hill.’ It’s got to be loosening up.”
With more storms on the way, they’re wondering about the remaining trees that tower over their home.
Cabrerra said homeowners can help protect their trees from extreme weather by having them professionally trimmed and by getting a thorough arborist inspection of trees near homes. He said that can detect root decay which cannot be seen externally.
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