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Clearing fallen trees after Hurricane Milton
Ariel Plasencia reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa Bay area arborists and tree crews have been working nonstop to remove fallen trees after Hurricane Milton brought damaging winds last week.
"Lot of trees on houses," Robert Johnson with Champion Tree Care LLC, said. "My guys are just working round the clock, sun up to sundown, doing the best we can to get everybody taken care of."
Milton made landfall Wednesday night, bringing 100 mile per hour winds that destroyed trees and power lines.
READ: Power restorations in Tampa Bay plagued by downed trees following Hurricane Milton
"We’ve been processing a lot of requests, and it’s been extremely difficult, because the cell towers were down, and our power’s been out," Kacy Keeffe with Arbor Bay Tree Service said. "And keeping up with phone calls when you can’t answer the phone has been kind of challenging."
Keeffe said their crews are trying to prioritize trees that fell on houses and also near churches, schools, doctors’ offices, and other businesses trying to reopen.
"We kind of hit the perfect storm where Hurricane Helene came in and made everything soggy. And then this next hurricane blew all the trees over," Keeffe said.
According to state law, if a living tree falls onto an adjoining landowner's property in "an act of God," then the adjoining landowner is responsible for damages.
WATCH: Florida man accused of trying to steal generator that powered traffic light after Hurricane Milton
"In Florida, if it's an act of God, wherever it fell, that person is responsible for that part of the tree," Keeffe said. "Many people are working together, splitting costs, and trying to do things the right way and be generous to one another. But legally, the property line is a force field. So if something is on your property line, you have to take care of it."
Moving forward, arborists estimate it’ll take one or two months to finish the immediate storm response. But, the full extent of damage to the area’s beautiful tree canopy might not be known until much later.
"Something that many people don’t think about is the torsional effects of the wind on the trees disrupts the vascular system. Many trees are going to die later from running out of stored energy," Keeffe said.
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