NB homeowners face hazard from invisible ‘cracks’ in ice storm damaged trees: arbourist

Tree trimming crews across New Brunswick are still busy cleaning up toppled trees and broken branches caused by last month’s devastating ice storm, but some are advising residents to have the remaining trees on their property inspected by a professional arbourist for invisible dangers.

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“A lot of times there is a lot of stuff that might be broken or damaged in the trees that clients or the average homeowner might not be able to spot,” said Bryce Brown, owner of Arbor-Tech Tree Service in Lower Coverdale, N.B.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "A lot of times there is a lot of stuff that might be broken or damaged in the trees that clients or the average homeowner might not be able to spot," said Bryce Brown, owner of Arbor-Tech Tree Service in Lower Coverdale, N.B.

Brown has been an arbourist for more than 20 years. He said while violent wind storms tend to bring down unhealthy and dying trees, the latest storm was much more vicious.

“This storm, with the ice load and the heavy snow and combination of wind, was breaking trees that were perfectly healthy,” Brown said.

He said those once healthy trees could now contain vertical cracks and weak seams that leave them more vulnerable to break and fall during the next big storm.

READ MORE: Justin Trudeau visits NB communities hit by ice storm

Libby Allman of Moncton said she plans to have the trees left standing on her property inspected, especially one that is broken in half. She said she’d “hate to lose it,” but would prefer having it removed as opposed to it damaging her property – something that already happened in the past two weeks.

During last month’s storm, a massive tree in her front yard split in two and fell onto her house and her car.

Since then she found out her car is likely a write-off and her roof received some damage from the blow down.

“It could have gone through the roof so easily,” said Allman.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It could have gone through the roof so easily," said Allman.

Brown said some homeowners are reluctant to have their trees inspected for fear the recommendation may be to cut the trees down altogether, and that may be true, though he said there are other options.

READ MORE: NB Power crews get support from communities as restoration continues

“If we believe that the tree is a hazardous tree then obviously it should be removed,” he said.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean the trees have to come down. We have been doing a lot of cabling and bracing of trees because we want to be sure we maintain our urban trees also.”

He said people should consult with an arbourist to determine the best possible solution for trees on their property.