Video of Florida nun clearing trees with chainsaw after Hurricane Irma goes viral

Credit: AJC

Who Pays for Cleanup if Your Neighbor’s Tree Falls in Your Yard?

Over the last week, Hurricane Irma ripped through parts of the Caribbean, Florida and Georgia, leaving behind a ton of damage. With piles of debris and fallen branches stacking up, one nun took matters into her own hands by clearing a tree in her neighborhood with a chainsaw.

»RELATED: Irma in Georgia: Road closures, downed trees and outages

The Miami-Dade police department posted a video of Sister Margaret Ann, dressed in her full habit, cutting down shrubbery. An off-duty officer captured the moment, and the upload has since gone viral, garnering more than 7,000 likes on Twitter.

»RELATED: Hurricane Irma damage: What to do when tree falls, tree service info

Sister Margaret Ann, who is an educator at Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School in Miami, told CNN she saw a need, so she grabbed tools from her school’s closet to remove a downed tree blocking a road nearby.

"We teach our students: Do what you can to help other people, don't think of yourselves," she said. "That's what I wanted to do."

Pretty soon, others joined her to help with the storm recovery efforts.

“Other people stopped to help, it was great,” she said. “Some of the alumni from our school saw what I was doing, they recognized the habit and the sisters, so they came to help out. It became a really good community project.”

»RELATED: If your neighbor's tree falls in your yard, who pays for cleanup?