Earth and Space News: clearing storm damaged trees

Showing posts with label clearing storm damaged trees. Show all posts

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Community and Tree Safety Awareness During Line- and Road-Clearances

Summary: Geoff Kempter of Asplundh Tree Expert Company discusses community and tree safety awareness during line- and road-clearances.

Recordkeeping, which documents response activities and equipment, can clarify complexities and seeming chaos of storm response efforts; after-storm cleanup in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota: Joseph O'Brien/USDA Forest Service/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Storm Response, Part 4: Unique Aspects: Keeping Employees Safe, Talking to the Media, Saving Damaged Trees, Winding Down, and Lessons Learned accentuates tree safety awareness in the Arborist News December 2013 issue.

Geoff Kempter of Asplundh Tree Expert Company builds timely, vigilant pruning, publicity, recordkeeping, safety and stand-downs into the response and the restoration stages of storm responses. Safety in storm response and restoration concerns people and their equipment, infrastructure such as buildings and pavement and vehicles as well as sites and their trees. Emergency declarations by governments and by utilities derive from "extraordinary conditions" that "disrupt normal activities and cause damage to infrastructure," especially to communication and transportation networks.

With or without emergency declarations, response and restoration expand electrical hazards, tree failures and wildlife displacements and extend drive-times and workloads in "difficult or unusual environments."

Line- and road-clearances function as top priorities in storm response and restoration since communication and transportation networks and power grids facilitate returns to normal operating procedures.

Tree safety awareness sometimes gets underestimated since "Fallen trees and branches may be entangled, and partially fallen or leaning trees or hanging branches may be common." Storm-loaded wood under tension has the "possibility of unexpected movement when loads are released by cuts" from risk assessment arborists headed into removal or restoration pruning. Cuts "to allow access and restore critical services" indicate pruning procedures since "Many trees sustain severe damage but remain standing" and respond quickly to restoration schedules.

"[B]ack feed" from "improperly connected home generators" jeopardizes line- and road-clearance arborists whose metal pruners join wet wood near lines that must be treated as energized.

Line- and road-clearances always kindle learning and teaching moments for "lessons learned" and tree safety awareness stand-downs about accidents, "costly" mistakes, "near" misses and "[u]nexpected events."

Analyses of failures and successes lend themselves well to on-site stand-downs "to prevent further incidents" and post-response talks to incorporate lesson-learning into preparations for subsequent responses. They may mention publicity since line- and road-clearances, response and restoration, "attract intense public and media scrutiny, especially after large storms and during lengthy power outages." Management needs to name authorized issuers of descriptions, photographs and statements to bloggers and reporters, "homeowners and neighbors" and media outlets, social media and the public.

Pre-approved "I don't know" and "We are all working hard to get things back to normal" statements for field personnel offer nothing for misrepresentation or misunderstanding.

Recordkeeping puts in response and restoration appearances since accurately accounting "hours worked, miles traveled, and costs for food, fuel, lodging, and other expenses can be daunting."

"[P]re-negotiation of terms, including agreements on what expenses are reimbursable" and vigilant documentation from the start, with information shared between parties" quell chaos and quicken reimbursements. Pre-negotiation of "turnkey contracts with suppliers of services and materials" and "use of dedicated corporate credit cards" result in streamlined "expenses documentation and accounting" for reimbursement. Accurate, prompt accounting of legitimate expenses serves to thank those who sign checks for writing checks while correct, timely reimbursements show that people and trees matter.

Community and tree safety awareness takes many forms whose common denominator is line- and road-clearances during storms as "unruly reminders of our vulnerability to natural phenomena."

Community awareness and tree safety awareness are important components of storm response and restoration; utility pole dangerously leaning over Main Line of Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) after battering by overnight cold front's high winds, Hicksville, Long Island, New York; Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, 12:49:48: Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York (MTAPhotos), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to:
talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet;
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for superior on-campus and on-line resources.

Image credits:

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

Kempter, Geoff. December 2013. "Storm Response, Part 4: Unique Aspects: Keeping Employees Safe, Talking to the Media, Saving Damaged Trees, Winding Down, and Lessons Learned." Arborist News 22(6): 12-18.
Available @ http://viewer.epaperflip.com/Viewer.aspx?docid=0d7dd641-d347-417c-b9c7-a28300c6d215#?page=12

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2013. “Chain-Saw Gear and Tree Work Related Personal Protective Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/chain-saw-gear-and-tree-work-related.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 October 2013. “Storm Damaged Tree Clearances: Matched Teamwork of People to Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/storm-damaged-tree-clearances-matched.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 August 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Damage Assessments: Pre-Storm Planned Preparedness.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/storm-induced-tree-damage-assessments.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Failures From Heavy Tree Weights and Weather Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/storm-induced-tree-failures-from-heavy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 April 2013. “Urban Tree Root Management Concerns: Defects, Digs, Dirt, Disturbance.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/04/urban-tree-root-management-concerns.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 February 2013. “Tree Friendly Beneficial Soil Microbes: Inoculations and Occurrences.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/tree-friendly-beneficial-soil-microbes.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 December 2012. “Healthy Urban Tree Root Crown Balances: Soil Properties, Soil Volumes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/healthy-urban-tree-root-crown-balances.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2012. “Tree Adaptive Growth: Tree Risk Assessment of Tree Failure, Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/tree-adaptive-growth-tree-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 August 2012. “Tree Risk Assessment Mitigation Reports: Tree Removal, Tree Retention?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/08/tree-risk-assessment-mitigation-reports.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 June 2012. “Internally Stressed, Response Growing, Wind Loaded Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/internally-stressed-response-growing.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 April 2012. “Three Tree Risk Assessment Levels: Limited Visual, Basic and Advanced.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-tree-risk-assessment-levels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Risk Ratings for Targets and Trees.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 December 2011. “Tree Risk Assessment: Tree Failures From Defects and From Wind Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/tree-risk-assessment-tree-failures-from.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2011. “Five Tree Felling Plan Steps for Successful Removals and Worker Safety.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-tree-felling-plan-steps-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2011. “Natives and Non-Natives as Successfully Urbanized Plant Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-and-non-natives-as-successfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 June 2011. “Tree Ring Patterns for Ecosystem Ages, Dates, Health and Stress.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tree-ring-patterns-for-ecosystem-ages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 April 2011. “Benignly Ugly Tree Disorders: Oak Galls, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Mold, Tar Spot.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/benignly-ugly-tree-disorders-oak-galls.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 February 2011. “Tree Load Can Turn Tree Health Into Tree Failure or Tree Fatigue.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/tree-load-can-turn-tree-health-into.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 December 2010. “Tree Electrical Safety Knowledge, Precautions, Risks and Standards.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-electrical-safety-knowledge.html

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Storm Damaged Tree Clearances: Matched Teamwork of People to Equipment

Summary: Geoff Kempter of Asplundh Tree Expert Company ties savvy storm damaged tree clearances from lines and roads to the matched teamwork of people to equipment.

Matching people and equipment fine-tunes storm-damaged tree clearances; bucket truck used in storm-damaged tree cleanup: Joseph O'Brien/USDA Forest Service/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Storm damaged tree clearances from lines and roads are top priorities in Storm Response, Part 3: Effective Response to Large- and Small-Scale Storm Emergencies in the October 2013 issue of Arborist News.

Geoff Kempter of Asplundh Tree Expert Company bases successful large- and small-scale storm emergency responses upon coordinated, human and mechanical resource-matched teamwork of people to equipment. Successful storm responses call upon coordination by storm center personnel who "work entirely within the confines of a building, without ever actually seeing the crews working." They also depend upon crews that do not flinch from "collective efforts" or from "extraordinary amounts of time and hard work, sometimes at considerable personal sacrifice."

The action of mobilized crews and of storm centers emerge most pertinently and presciently when equipment, site, tree and weather data exist in accessible, up-to-date formats.

Planned, pre-coordinated, pre-mobilized matched teamwork of people to equipment furnishes municipality- and utility-operated storm centers with means, motives and opportunities for local deployments within two hours.

Local, small-scale storm emergency responses get general timelines of cleared lines and roads and of restored power and water within several hours to within two days. Having on-site safety specialists supervise crews "that are used to working together" helps "maintain order, discipline, and some semblance of normalcy" and reduce "risk of accidents." It is a contributor to timely completion of storm work, whose delineation from routine work involves more than "a single branch" breaking "on a breezy day."

Large- and small-scale storm responders jar citizen sensitivities by judging catch-up routine, or off-site restoration, work priorities over chipping storm damaged tree clearances and removing debris.

Quality monitors know of two criticisms when regional mutual assistance associations and storm centers pre-position a pre-storm planned, pre-coordinated, pre-mobilized matched teamwork of people to equipment.

Budgets and timelines lead storm responders to leave debris from storm damaged tree clearances on-site for chipping and removal by property residents or through public funds. Purportedly improving the "speed and effectiveness of the restoration effort by strategically moving personnel and equipment before storms strike" means earlier start-times for hopefully earlier end-times.

Early, large-scale mobilizations necessitate "costly" expenditures since "The size of responses to large storms has been increasing in recent years and can involve thousands of workers." They offer "advance preparations for areas" in projected paths of gradually developing hurricanes and winter storms or expensive rehearsals or huge waste "if forecasts are wrong."

Concerns about safe transits and temporary accommodations and for earlier end-times provide support for planned, pre-coordinated, pre-mobilized matched teamwork of people to equipment before storms strike.

Competition with evacuees for food and lodging quits being problematic through early mobilization into "tent cities" at strategic locations for centralized, comfortable, convenient economies of scale. The realization that "Every response is different and poses unique challenges" requires "[d]amage assessment teams composed of experienced utility, government, or contract employees" to mobilize first. Guidelines about "appropriate clothing, supplies, and information that may be required in unfamiliar work environments" and about "local work rules, customs, and hazards" strengthen all mobilizations.

Storm damaged tree clearances tend to be as economically, humanly, mechanically, physically and temporally non-disruptive as prescient planning, priority pre-coordinating and proactive pre-mobilizing take turns spotlighting.

Timely clearing of storm damaged trees matches teamwork of people and equipment; cleanup after storm in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota: Joseph O'Brien/USDA Forest Service/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Acknowledgment

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

Kempter, Geoff. October 2013. "Storm Response, Part 3: Effective Response to Large- and Small-Scale Storm Emergencies." Arborist News 22(5): 14-21.
Available @ http://viewer.epaperflip.com/Viewer.aspx?docid=de1c0fc1-9f51-447a-858a-a2ae0094c6c5#?page=14