Hurricane Ike
Experts: Many trees fared well during Ike, others will be replaced
07:02 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 7, 2008
HOUSTON — Trees cracked, fell onto homes, and left piles of yard work for many Houston residents after the hurricane.
“You can see how far over it is and how loose the root ball is. Just with one hand I can move the whole thing,” Barry Ward, with Trees for Houston, said.
Tree experts, like Barry Ward, have no idea how many trees were lost during the storm, but they do know that some types of trees did better than others.
“Ten feet to the right you’ve got a fairly mature Oak tree that has hardly a scratch on it. And then you’ve got three Hackberry’s that are probably about the same age. All of them are snapped in two,” Ward said.
Pines also tended to snap easier, but Oak trees fared the best, followed by Magnolias and Bald Cypress.
Experts are still trying to figure out how much of the tree canopy was lost. They said even if Ike destroyed only one percent of the Houston area canopy, the amount would be around 800,000 trees.
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Mayor Bill White announced Monday that he wants to replace all trees by planting 1 million more over the next five years.
“It can help reduce emissions in air because they absorb the green house gases,” Mayor Bill White said.
The group, Trees for Houston, is helping with the initiative. Their goal is to plant about 10,000 trees.
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